We returned from our second overnight excursion to Bois Jolie yesterday, which went much better than the previous week’s work. Our first run last week didn’t go badly, but field work always needs tweaking. A clean-cut methodology written in advance rarely works out the way you expect. With a few modifications to our methods, mainly… more →
In May, the flamboyant or flame tree (Delonix regia) ignites the canopy surrounding the Peligre reservoir in Haiti’s Central Plateau. The reservoir itself is as controversial as it is beautiful. Dammed in the late 1950’s to provide electricity to Port au Prince, the Artibonite river valley was flooded, forcing families from fertile bottom lands farms… more →
Ben McKenzie and Pierre Wakenfort assessing photosynthesis rates, Bois Jolie, Haiti. May, 2015. Zanmi Kafe interns Ben McKenzie and Pierre Wakenfort practice using the Licor 6400 to measure photosynthesis in a farmer’s field of corn and beans. These sun-loving annual plants capture carbon at a rate of 20 umol/m2/sec in full sun! The sophisticated 40-lb instrument… more →
Mary Margaret Johnson (Zanmi Foto) discussing Scott Summer’s biodiversity analysis of the Zanmi Kafe project. Zanmi Lasante, Cange, Haiti. May 2015. Scott and Geanina Fripp are identifying different species of ants and other insects to characterize the community of invertebrates available to defend the coffee seedlings against predators and pests. [photo: Pradip Malde]
Children playing in the evening, Bois Jolie, Haiti. May, 2015. [photo: Hunter Swenson] I used to think that there is magic in a camera. It took what I saw and reproduced it exactly. As I got older I learned the how of the camera and was shown it was not magic, but science. Thus… more →
Today was my second trip up to Bois Jolie. Our goal for the day was first, to survive an extremely hot and humid hike, and after arriving, to meet with the two zanmi photo families that we had not had the chance to meet with last week. When meeting the families we planned to… more →
Hunter Swenson, coconut and Mansell Ambrose. Bois Jolie, Haiti. May, 2015 [photo: Pradip Malde] Mansell photographs a freshly picked coconut served by Leonel Jeremie, one of our Zanmi Foto partners in the Bois Jolie area. Scattered around Hunter are the flowers of another type of palm tree loved by bees. Leonel also tends several hives.
It has been an incredible trip to Haiti. The past few days have been full of laughter, rapport and deep meaningful conversations within our group of students and faculty, as well as the people we have met and are working with here in Cange. However, my experience have gone beyond conversation and photography. As Sewanee students, we have been… more →
Farmers of Morne Michelle planting seeds for a nursery which may be modeled on the Zanmi Kafe Project. Morne Michelle, Haiti. May 27, 2015 [Photo: Hunter Swenson] Today we (Geanina Fripp, Hunter Swenson, Peter Davis, and Scott Summers, and myself) experienced a new aspect of Haitian community life. A group of Zanmi Kafe and Zanmi… more →
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