The movie explores the challenges, motivations, and broader implications of Sadhana Forest Haiti, an unlikely reforestation community organized around an alternative, cashless economy in an area of Haiti devastated by soil erosion and social immobility.

The director, Joseph Redwood-Martinez, emailed me the following:

After living and working with this community for an extended period, I put together this video as a way to extend a thoughtful reflection on the motivations, complications, and implications of this project. As the documentary is now finished, I’d like to make it available to non-profits, education organizations, and diverse communities for whom this could be a resource. Do let me know if it would be of interest to anyone involved with the Sustainable Haiti Coalition.

If you are interested in showing the film, or can help get the word out about it to other organizations and networks, please email the director at Joseph Redwood-Martinez <joseph.r.martinez@gmail.com> or sign up to host a screening at onedayeverythingwillbefree.com.

The director writes:

From May to August of 2012, I lived and worked with the Sadhana Forest community in Anse-a-Pitre, Haiti. Over the past several years, I’ve visited intentional communities and ecological restoration projects throughout the United States, New Zealand, France, Ecuador, India, Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Haiti, and Palestine. To date, Sadhana Forest Haiti remains the most significant, complex, and dynamic project I’ve encountered. Sadhana Forest not only makes a proposition for addressing environmental degradation and the inadequacies of foreign aid, it importantly offers very real working-example of a these propositions enacted from within a diverse and constantly evolving community. In this way, Sadhana actively challenges paradigms that exacerbate alienation, scarcity, and competition by catalyzing patterns that promote mutually beneficial relationships, environmental stewardship, and conscientious resource use.

Seeking to understand the significance of Sadhana Forest’s presence, I approached creating this film without a preconceived agenda, but with an unbiased curiosity. The intention to discover, instead of “document” Sadhana, led me to appreciate the comprehensive societal implications of Sadhana, a community that encourages its participants to realize abundance by provoking actions motivated by resilience and patience over instant gratification.

Yet still, Sadhana Forest is not without its own complications. Throughout this process of living with the community as an engaged observer and participant conducting interviews over a period of several months, I was provoked to question and attempt understanding the symbolic nature of Sadhana in relation to the practical solutions it puts forward for improving the environment and its stakeholders’ quality of life. And at the heart of this film is a perpetual questioning: Whose hope? Whose optimism? And whose practical solutions to whose problems?

We hope One day, everything will be free will be used as a tool to engage and inform diverse communities around the world. As such, we are happy to work with you in every way we can to make a screening possible.

There are some bright spots: we’ve supported the Partners Worldwide 100,000 Jobs initiative, which is gaining ground. MTB Ayiti, working with Travelcology, have pulled off the mountain biking event we first cooked up with them in 2011. We’ve also provide support to a group looking to help with growing more bamboo in Haiti, as we originally proposed in early 2012. But in practical terms we’re stymied, which is the problem for many cause-related efforts these days.

Now comes Amy Wilentz’ latest “Letter from Haiti,” in the January 28, 2013 issue of The Nation, and the picture remains bleak for the country. To begin with, there are still more than 350,000 people living in increasingly-squalid camps in an around Port-au-Prince. And the resettlement process itself was done in a way that caused animosity and in many cases inappropriate outcomes.

Moreover, of the money that has flowed into Haiti since the earthquake — of course merely a fraction of what was “promised” — much of it has gone into fundamentally misguided and poorly executed projects, such as the new luxury Royal Oasis hotel, the industrial park at Caracol, and the brand-new University of King Henri Christophe in Limonade.

Wilentz writes of the first of these:

The “five-star” Royal Oasis is a violation of human decency. Not because it’s big and luxurious in a desperately poor country, although it is that: it has 128 rooms, five restaurants, five bars, a conference center, an art gallery and an upscale shopping mall. But the indecent, depraved thing about it is that — amazingly, astoundingly — its construction was financed in part by grants from organizations ostensibly providing post-earthquake reconstruction funds: $7.5 million from the Wrold Bank’s International Finance Corporation wen to the Oasis project, as well as $2 million from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, the recovery group headed by former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The leaders and staff of these organizations should be ashamed of the extent to which they have once again failed the Haitian people.

We know a little about this: we wrote policy papers for these groups, urging them to establish a foundation for sustainable growth through permaculture and community development; and we submitted a proposal to establish sustainable business incubators throughout Haiti. Admittedly, our proposal had some flaws. But they were not damaging to the ecology and the economy, as the $220 million Caracol Industrial Park is likely to be, with its massive giveaways, its location in a sensitive area, and its No. 8 fuel-oil power plant.

Finally, the creation of a new exurban university — competing with one of the same name that has existed since the 1930s in Cap Haitien — is surely to be welcomed, but it has failed to attract sufficient faculty, and the quality and relevance of the programs to Haiti’s needs remains to be seen.

And for the majority of the Haitian people little or nothing has changed. Almost everything is imported, as costs well beyond those that the average Haitian can afford; and 70 per cent of the population remains illiterate, impoverished, and marginalized. The cholera epidemic is ongoing. Much of the topsoil is gone, and the traditional methods of agriculture and fishery lost. There are rumors of gold, silver, and copper to be mined by foreign conglomerates.

What’s remarkable is that many people still have not given up hope, and continue to work every day for a better future for Haiti. We salute these people, and continue to offer the Coalition as a vehicle for bringing sustainable solutions to task of long term ecological, economic, and cultural regeneration of the Haitian nation.

Please visit this page to keep in touch with the organizing team for the 2014 event.

—–PRESS RELEASE——

Partnering with the Ministry of Tourism, MTB Ayiti promotes Haiti as the hottest new destination for adventure travel.

Port-au-Prince, January 28.- Mountain Bike Ayiti (MTBAyiti) presented by Pepsi Max, the first ever pro-am mountain bike stage race in Haiti, will take riders from Port-au-Prince to Marigot through some of the most stunning terrain in Haiti. In partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Tourism, Travelcology aims to raise awareness for Haiti’s potential as an exciting ‘off the beaten path’ destination for mountain biking and adventure tourism.

MTB Ayiti has garnered registration from such internationally acclaimed champions as Hans Rey, Marla Streb and Sonya Looney, amongst dozens of others.  Starting from the site of the former National Palace in Port-au-Prince, racers will ascend more than 8,000 feet before reaching La Visite National Park, a protected forest among the Caribbean’s highest mountains with never-before-ridden trails. The final day begins with a 15+ mile single track course followed by a 6,000 feet descent into the seaside town of Marigot, where riders will be greeted by revellers celebrating the first day of Haiti’s Carnival. Total race distance is estimated at 65 miles.

AYITI: LAND OF MOUNTAINS

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the MTB Ayiti race”, said Hans Rey. “Not only to be amongst the first group of people to experience the rigorous terrain, but to support the greater mission of inspiring others to view Haiti in a new, more positive light.”

Haiti (or Ayiti in Haitian Creole) literally means “land of mountains”, alluding to its breath-taking natural beauty, which is much lesser known compared to neighbouring Caribbean countries. To help jump-start recreational mountain biking, MTB Ayiti participants will outfit mobile bike repair shops, train mechanics, and create mosaic trail markers in the days leading up to the race. Additionally, Louise Story, a television producer who previously covered six Olympic Games and three Tour de France races, is developing a one-hour sports special around the inaugural race to be aired on a national US television network.

“We were happily surprised when MTB Ayiti first approached us with the idea of putting on a bike race from the capital to the South coast”, said Stephanie Balmir Villedrouin, Haiti’s Minister of Tourism. “We support these types of initiatives to showcase Haiti as a destination for mountain biking and adventure tourism: our country has the topography and natural resources to be a great destination for adventure seekers and it’s a nice way to discover the other face of Haiti”, the Minister has highlighted.

MTB Ayiti is supporting local groups like the Leogane Cycling Club (LCC) by sponsoring mountain bikes, jerseys, and race entry. Additionally, Hans Rey’s non-profit organization, Wheels4Life, is donating bikes for educational programs in Haiti.

Press Release Mountain Bike Haiti- Haiti’s First Pro-am Mountain Bike Race

December 9, 2012: NRG Energy, Inc. has announced the completion of its “The Sun Lights the Way” project in Haiti. The program entailed the installation of solar electric systems at 20 schools, a fish farm and a drip irrigation system supporting agricultural production throughout Haiti’s Central Plateau region, through collaboration with a non-profit organization called Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). This project helps to improve the quality of education for more than 6,000 Haitian students by providing the electricity needed to power lights, communication systems, laptop computers and other school equipment in remote areas of the country. The project received support from Trina Solar, a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photo-voltaic (PV) products, which donated all of the solar panels installed on the schools. (Source: http://theenergycollective.com/dailyenergyreport/154656/solar-power-advances-haiti.)

Hilton NY Hotel
Thursday, September 27th 12:45pm-3:45pm and Friday, September 28th 8:00am-4:00pm

We recently received the following very special letter from our friend Marie-Yolaine Eusebe from Community2Community:

Dear Friends of Haiti,
As many of you know, shortly after the January 2010 Haiti Earthquake, I resigned my position at American Express to start Community2Community. I was eager to learn about non-profit development work and even more eager to learn the best way to help the people in Haiti to get on the road to self-sufficiency. A colleague sponsored me to attend Movement Day that same year and attend their Haiti Track.

This year will be my third year in attendance at the Movement Day Haiti Track. I keep coming back to be inspired, network with others on the ground and hone my skills as a leader by getting access to those who are doing it the right way. What I’ve learned, I’ve promoted and put into practice. Click here for my video testimonial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2VOP8Dzgkk&feature=youtu.be.

Here’s the program:

Dear Colleagues and Friends, we are working to put together an exciting high impact Haiti Track as part of Movement Day and have assembled a great group of speakers that are global leaders in their field of expertise.

Main Speakers and topics are:

Poverty Alleviation through Micro Lending
Peter Greer, the author of, ‘The Poor will be Glad,’ will communicate practical ways to develop greater impact to people and communities by integrating micro lending with sustainable development projects.

Strength-based Assessment Tools
Dr. Jayakaran will explain his healthy community concept and provide proven strategies to help you understand your community better. We will discuss ways to mobilize volunteers to do grass roots assessments that determine both the assets and threats of communities in crisis.

Community Development Strategies
Glenn Smith will address the need to develop a holistic approach to community development. You will learn cutting edge partnership ideas that have the potential to transform Haiti by building multifaceted collaborative projects.

Innovative Funding Concepts
Jimmy Lee will highlight some exciting new funding models that are reshaping how we fund modern day mission programs. We will explore ways to increase project funding through Global Venture Funds that create long term solutions to poverty.

In addition to the main speakers and topics below we will also hear from:
• Jeff Reed on the need to build spiritual foundations under all we do
• Dave Genzink on the progress of the 100K jobs initiative
• Joe Anfuso on how to establish wise mission teams to work with sustainable projects
• Dru Dodson on developing partnership strategies
• Dave Winrow on how to launch a profitable Auquaponics program
• Dan O’Deens on creating nutritional solutions through Moringa farming
• Beth Mollenhaue from Teachers Training Teachers on the need to invest in education

This year we are also inviting leaders from foundations and the business community that are interested in collaborating with us. We expect every participant to walk away from our time together with fresh vision for unity and new tools to accomplish the work you have been called to do. We have included interactive collaborative time so that you will be able meet new friends and build strategic alliances.

The Early Bird rate of $149, including lunch, officially expires today (August 15th) but if you contact me or Sharon Cushing at 718.593.8626, x213 or scushing@nycleadership.com, we’re holding a few spots at this rate for key parties that are recommended by our friends and partners.

In addition, we’re adding a Community Portal — see this page for more details. This is still under development, so don’t expect much content — yet. But we invite you to add your content, including projects, interests, offers, and requests — and we’ll help publicize them here.

(If you tried to access this before August 10, 2012, please note that we have now substituted a Coalition Forum for the earlier “Elgg,” community, which didn’t seem to work very well. The new “Vanilla” Forum looks like a much easier vehicle for collaborative conversations. Please try it out. Thanks.)

Instead, just use the form at Community-Submitted News to post your news items.

We’ll make sure everything is okay before they’re posted to the front page like this.

Needless to say, however, we were immediately caught up in our local projects once more, which if allowed to do so would easily occupy 150% of our time and energy. I suspect this is true for most of us, whether our projects are in Haiti or elsewhere. Drawn back in to our everyday realities, we may lose sight of the very big picture that opened up for us in the “heart-cracking, deep-listening, and action-oriented” session hosted by the Coalition.

But we’re determined not to let this happen, so we made a commitment to follow up with those at our Coalition session within a couple of weeks — and this is just the beginning of it. So many interesting and worthwhile relationships and possibilities opened up that are inspiring for us to pursue — and by doing so help to bring into focus some new initiatives and strengthen existing ones. And we’re extending this to the entire Coalition community, who were certainly there with us in spirit.

To begin with, here are the (raw, unedited) videos of the Coalition session: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1F08E0C12EDC2C1B.

Then there’s Doug’s heartfelt follow-up letter, which expresses the gratitude we feel when others join us and share their visions for a Haiti restored in body and in spirit, from its once “extremely fertile” soil (that in the 1700s made it the richest colony in the world) to the rehabilitation of its unique syncretic traditions of Vodou, slave revolt, and peasant self-help organizing.

Thank you for your participation in the SHC session in Miami. This note expresses our gratitude for the quality of community co-created by those who assembled together; and Invites you to engage in a series of next steps and opportunities to build forward on behalf of the 100 year vision of a resilient re-building of well being in Haiti.

We are preparing to make accessible in the next days and weeks:

1. The contacts roster
2. Video segments of several portions of our Sustainable Haiti forum (via You Tube Links)
3. Guidance on finding project summaries and additional resources on our website
4. Save the Date(s) for the next Sustainable Haiti Coalition Tele-Conference & Webinars to be produced in collaboration with you and other players who represent the vision and actions that will create a regenerative future for Haiti
5. Information and links for joining the Coalition at general membership levels and our signature Founders Circle and Leadership Council levels.

We welcome your reflections on the forum in Miami and any and all suggestion for strengthening the evolving platform that is the Coalition. Jonathan & Doug have been highly gratified and experiencing a satisfying state of renewal as a result of the response and declaration of interest to collaborate from among you.

This is a shared leadership of social change journey. We need one another.  We look forward to hearing from you and make strides forward along side you.

For those of you at the Coalition session, we are sending a spreadsheet of those attending, with full contact information where we have it (drop us an email if you did not receive it), along with the link to the session videos.

Highlights of the conference, from my perspective, were:

• the two days devoted to Diaspora-led investment, with presentations from current and former Haitian government officials (including the outgoing Prime Minister) and from fund managers and facilitators
• the session by members of the Haiti Medical & Public Health Information Sharing Environment (MPHISE) that warned that the country is about to enter the fourth major wave of the cholera epidemic, even as the major NGOs are pulling back or pulling out (an avoidable tragedy-in-the-making as most recently noted by the New York Times in its Editorial of May 12, reprinted in YoutHaiti’s most recent newsletter)
• the gradual coalescing of groups and alliances, including our own, to focus on tangible projects, such as Partners Worldwide‘s 100,000 Jobs initiative

We’ve also started a dialogue with Université Roi Henri Christophe in Cap Haitien (http://www.urhc.edu.ht, not to be confused with the new but as yet unoccupied university of the same name in Limonade) in hopes of fostering an international exchange with NJ’s Fairleigh Dickinson University.

It’s also clear, however, that we cannot always be directly involved in many of the exchanges we want to facilitate; consequently we’re looking into further tools for sharing and communicating amongst Coalition members, that we can add to the site and use to foster interaction as part of our ongoing contribution to the dialogue and the effort to build the new Haiti.

This 3rd annual conference will take place from April 23rd- April 25th, 2012 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. We’ll be hosting a session on April 25, on Coalition Building for Sustainable Enterprise Development, and we invite you to join us for this — and take advantage of the resources, contacts, and opportunities present at the Conference, which is now a regular part of John Rosser’s remarkable Sustainatopia festival, which also includes an annual Impact Conference that attracts more than 600 social investors and entrepreneurs from around the world.

Rosser has partnered with the Haitian Diaspora Federation (HDF) to bring a focus on investments to this year’s conferences. For the first two days, the Haitian Diaspora Federation will present the 2012 Investment Forum: Pote Kole Pou Ayiti Dekole – a conversation about the necessity for sustained investments that create jobs.

Rosser writes:

The 2012 Investment Forum will serve as an important platform to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, government representatives, and international agencies to see investments through a different prism, identify new opportunities and develop a shared agenda for the future.

Founded in 2010, the mission of the Haitian Diaspora Federation (HDF) is to help create a stronger, more prosperous, and equitable Haiti by mobilizing Haitian living abroad with resources to address the reconstruction effort, and Haiti’s sustained economic growth and development. To that end HDF, is focusing on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), a sector that employs about 80 percent of Haiti’s total work force. If nurtured, it can be a catalyst for long-term and sustained economic growth.

The 2012 Investment Forum will demystify Haiti for entrepreneurs and investors, as Haiti needs entrepreneurs willing to bet on its future. The Haitian Diaspora Federation (HDF) website is http://www.myhdf.org

Rosser maintains that the 2012 Sustainable Haiti Conference is the most comprehensive economic development conference of all time for Haiti. It will consist of over 40 workshops and panels + more than 100 speakers from around the world.

Early bird pricing (until 4/3/2012) starts at $169 for Haitian Diaspora members, $249 for a regular one-day pass, and $345 for full nonprofit attendance. Please let us know if you’re coming.

While tickets last, all Sustainable Haiti Conference admissions include the Sustainatopia Honors 2012 ceremony on the evening of Monday, April 23 — Rosser tells us it wouldn’t be Miami without this kind of extravanga, and it’s for a good cause…

Jonathan Cloud  jcloud@SustainableHaitiCoalition.org
Doug Cohen dacohen@SustainableHaitiCoalition.org