In November 2007, a team of 5 volunteers (2 from Canada, 2 from US and 1 from Egypt) went to Les Cayes, in the South Western part of Haiti to give a special 10-days Youth Leadership Training Program (YLTP) to 35 Haitian youth and 8 community leaders. The program was a complete success and initiated a long-term relationship between Haiti and the Art of Living Foundation.
Haiti is a country with many problems. It remains one of the least developed nations in the western hemisphere, with poverty levels affecting an estimated 80% of the country. One of the biggest problems the country currently faces is massive deforestation. Approximately 98% of the country’s original forest has been cut down. Experts say that the most effective way to reverse the situation is through grassroots efforts through local communities.
Our YLTP program is designed to revive and enrich communities through the upliftment and transformation of youth. When given the tools to see clearly, young people have the vision to do something positive in their communities. In this case, YLTP Haiti is meant to be part of a larger project vision of helping to reforest the island of Haiti by inspiring it’s youth to take responsibility.
As part of our efforts, the Foundation is partnering with other local NGO’s to make this happen. One of them, The Friends of Petite Anse Foundation, has secured commitments from both local government and private landowners for over 30,000 acres of land to be used in reforestation, soil conservation and education for the future phase of our program.
During the last YLTP, the participant, planted more then 200 fruit trees and sponsored the planting of another 150 trees. With the participants, we are now planning the second phase of our program, which will happen on March 24th 2008. This time we will invite to North American youth to join the program so they can also experience the richness of Haiti’s culture and do something concrete about global warming and the eradication of poverty in this part of the world.
In the future, we plan to visit Haiti every 3 month to teach more youth and establish permanent reforestation projects in partnership with local farmers, grass roots organizations throughout the country.
Finally, we are happy to report that we received our first grant for this program from Northwestern University, and have sent out several more proposals for consideration. It is only with the combined efforts of people that together, with the people of Haiti, we can reach our goal of reforesting Haiti and providing a better future for the next generation.
For more information on this program, to donate or to participate,
please contact us at: youthteam@artofliving.ca. All donation are tax deductible.
Here are a few excerpts from the course evaluations:
“The program helped me to have a new vision of life; to live better, and stay grounded and be more connected with others; to give real, unconditional love and be a better human being.”
-- Armand
“I’ve learned a better way to breathe, to control my stress so I can shine better. I would love to be a leader. I’m engaged in the techniques and I’d like to pass it on to others. I’ve learned that teamwork makes us strong and nothing is impossible when you do it together. I find that we have to put all our effort to make sure that reforestation continues to grow because it is so essential for our country.” -- Berlin
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