Tending to Eden – the link between poverty and the environment

Hillside garden where once there was rainforest.

If you think that poverty is an issue we must do something about, then you need to read the book “Tending to Eden” by Scott Sabin.  It presents how poverty is inextricably linked to environmental degradation and that if we are to care for the poor, we must also take care of the environment.  This became apparent to me after several visits to Haiti.  In US we are shielded by government infrastructure from the effects of environmental degradation, while in Haiti most people live directly off the land, obtaining water, food, and fuel directly from the source (streams and wells, the land, and trees).  Helping the poor is a mandate common to most religious beliefs.  And to do this, we must also protect the environment.  Another great source of information mentioned in “Tending to Eden” is the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment which assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being.

Bottom line – if you care about the poor, you must take care of the environment.  If your church or other organization is challenging you to help the poor, challenge your church to include the environment in that calling.

Spring from which people obtain drinking water.

Woman washing clothes at drinking water source (and where livestock are on the banks with access to the water!).

Books about Haiti and Kreyol

These are the books and articles I've used as reference for talks I've given about Haiti, and others that are just good. These are linked to Amazon.com, but search Better World Books for used books and a good cause.

• Jared Diamond Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. See this commentary about Diamond's theories.
  
• Paul Farmer Uses of Haiti (2005), After the Earthquake (2011)
  
• Tracy Kidder Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003, about Paul Farmer)
• Wade Davis Serpent and the Rainbow
  
• Bob Shacochis The Immaculate Invasion (1994 US occupation)
• Center for Applied Linguistics Haitians Their History and Culture
  
• Steve Latta et al. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (Princeton Field Guide)
• Brian Crother Caribbean Amphibians and Reptiles (thanks LeeAnn for buying this for UCI)
• Zora Neale Hurston Tell My Horse About her time in Haiti in the 1930's - good history lesson for us today.
  
• Alejo Carpentier - The Kingdom of This World Historical fiction about the 1804 revolution.
  

Kreyol Language

• Roger Savain Haitian Kreyol in Ten Steps
• Dictionaries and books by Bryant Freeman, available at the University of Kansas Bookstore and for download
• Lots of Kreyol books through Educavision in Florida
  

Ti Zwazo Kote W A Prale - Kreyol bird book

My 1st day in Haiti and I found bird books in Kreyol! My guide Jehu (the brother-in-law of my hosts) took me on a tour of Port au Prince the capital & Petionville, and we stopped an office building that had bird books in Kreyol & French, so I bought some of both. One was the book I used last year that I bought from the author Florence Sergile who lives in Florida. But I gave them all away last year and she didn't have anymore in the US. I visited the Musee du Pantheon, a really nice museum that tells the history of Haiti. It even has the anchor from the Santa Maria. We went to another museum at a Baptist mission that had a hodgepodge of displays. It would be a great project for one of my KU museum studies classes! Here's an interesting blog about it. The museum did have a map of the mammals of Haiti, which was a good find since there aren't many mammals & not much popular information about them. There was also a sad little zoo with a monkey, 2 goats, a crocodile in a tiny cement enclosure, doves, and lots of rabbits with 2 guinea pigs. Here's a picture of Jehu and me at Fort Jacques, as well as scenes from the drive up to the fort. The cool mountainous air felt good! My schedule is off from traveling, I think I'll try to go back to bed. In the morning my hosts here in the capital, Michael & Karen Broyles, take me to the MAF airport where Michael is a missionary pilot. I'll meet up with Mike W. and we'll fly to Pignon and stay with JeanJean & Kristie!

Thanks for the teaching supplies!

This is my final update before I leave for Haiti in January. Thank you all so much for your financial and moral support. The photo shows a smattering of the supplies you contributed. All the Creole and French science books, classroom supplies, and binoculars will help me teach ecology and ecotourism in Caiman in the Central Plateau. The books will then go to the Mompremier’s new library for the entire community to access. An exciting development is that an agricultural missionary to the Caiman region recently began attending my church and has been teaching me Creole! Be sure to check my blog for updates while I’m in Haiti.

Haitian Creole resource websites

• Neat website that audibly translates books into Haitian Creole! www.weeklyreader.com/focusonreading/bats/haitian_creole.asp
• Florida company that publishes science and medical resources written in Creole www.educavision.com
• Creole journal, some articles about deforestation and agriculture www.potomitan.info Search for EW Vedrine.
  

• Please post a comment if you come across any others.

EcoFund supply wish-list

Thanks to everyone who has supported this effort! I was able to purchase 3 sets of educavision books, and have received several binoculars and flashlights (Dec. 2009).

These are the supplies I would like to take to Caiman to teach ecology. I will leave them at a new library. I was told that there are no libraries in Haiti (maybe the universities have them?) and most people could not afford to buy books. Please click on the paypal link if you'd like to donate to the supply fund. Books are from www.educavision.com unless otherwise noted.

• Planet Earth in Diagram - Diagramatic presentation of planet Earth, $10.00
• Diksyonè Syans - Monolingual Haitian Creole Science Dictionary, $18.00
• Water is life/Dlo se lavi - Simple study of water in daily living, $8.00
• Ecology/Ekoloji - kingdoms, cell cycle, metamorphosis, photosynthesis. Grade 8-12, $12.00
• Butterfly Life Cycle/Etap nan lavi Papiyon - Butterfly life cycle with bilingual labels, $7.00
• Plant and Animal Cells, Comparison - Plant and animal cells with bilingual labels, $7.00
• Earth Science - Bilingual, $17.00
• Map Skills/Ladrès Jeyografi - Activity to develop, build & reinforce map skills, $8.00
• Map of The Caribbean with bilingual labels, $7.00
• Solid Liquid Gas chart - State of matters with bilingual labels, $7.00
• Weather Chart with bilingual labels, $7.00
• Water Cycle Chart - Water cycle with bilingual labels, $7.00
• Bird Life Circle, $5.00
• Eng/Haitian-Creole Science Dictionary - Science, mathematic, medical & other field, $20.00
• Map Of Haiti in color 30x24, $7.00
• Tropical Fruits/Fwi Twopikal - Tropical fruits and what they can be used for. Bilingual, Grade K-2, $5.00
• Insects/Ensèk - Insects and what they do. Bilingual, K-2. $5.00
• Pictorial English-Creole Dictionary - Illustrated and arranged by subjects, $18.00
• My Friend the Tree/Mon ami l'arbre/Zanmi-m Pyebwa - The ecological role of trees. Trilingual. (worldlanguage.com) $13.00
• Oiseaux d'Haiti - Birds of Haiti - in French! With Creole & English (Florence Sergile), $45.00
• Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti - All the birds in Haiti (amazon.com), $30.00
• Binoculars
• Pens, pencils, notebooks, and pencil sharpeners