Dear friends,

My recent conversation with Sustainable Harvest Belize Director, Nana Mensah, was cut short when a group of men came into the Sustainable Harvest Belize office in Punta Gorda. Nana knew immediately why they were there. Each week, farmers such as these travel great distances to and ask for his help. Nana asked me to share with our supporters how hard it is for him to meet families like this, people who come so far and humbly ask for support. Nana says, "With SHI, they see a way to improve their lives. More than anything, I want to be able to tell them that we will have a field trainer out to work in their village right away, but I can't say that. We just don't have enough funding yet to reach them all."

With rising fuel prices driving up the cost of food worldwide, families already living on the edge of extreme poverty are first and most dramatically affected by these hardships. These are the families coming to SHI and asking for assistance. Our work is so important. Not only do the techniques our local staff teach restore and protect the environment, they provide families with nutritious food that they can eat and sell. Marc Lacey's recent New York Times article, "Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger," attests that we need to strengthen local agriculture systems to fight off global food shortages. SHI is doing just that.

Farmer Pedro Bolon of Jordan Village has seen his life transform since starting work with us just a few years ago. He is now providing food for his family and improving their quality of life. In his own words:

"Never before have I worked with such organizations until I have found out about SH-Belize. First of all, we began to discuss what we will do and plant. After such discussion, the following week, the field trainer gave me planting bags to fill up and from then on cacao [trees that produce chocolate] seeds came in. He taught me the knowhow of planting them into bags. A month later he gave me coffee plants too and then vegetable seeds. We got different varieties of seeds to plant. We were also provided with technical visits on a weekly basis and some training too. And now, we are looking forward for going on a field trip anytime soon.

Now I have planted 150 cacao which are 2 feet high. The coffee are still in the bags though and would get transplanted in the rainy time in July. The vegetables are consumed at home for our families daily diet. My wife cooks them in order for my children to have a proper and healthier nutrition for a sturdy growth and for to study better and health lifestyle. All these goes to my children because I have a family of eight. The veggie production helped me with finance and now, I no longer need to buy them, but instead I grow it organically. This NGO giving me a big support towards helping my family and thus living a sustainable and better life.

I would like to thank SHI, its donors, field trainers and its supporters of organic farming for their many support and assistance. May its seeds of SHI sprout within the whole Toledo District. Once again, a very big thank you."

Pedro Bolon's story is one of the many successes that SHI has had in 10 years of providing training and support to more than 1,000 families in Central America. Our mission of hiring local staff who provide families with the training and tools they need to help themselves really works! We could bring this same success to families like the ones Nana meets with every day, if only we had the funding to hire more field trainers to work with them.

We need to raise $15,000 above our projected income this year to hire another field trainer to reach families requesting assistance to provide food and income for their children. The men waiting in Nana's office had this to say, "With your help, we could put our land to good use, and thus really improve the way we are living." $15,000 would provide a field trainer with salary, benefits, training and materials to work with as many as 6 communities on our waiting list. Every little bit makes a difference.

In hope,

Florence Reed
Founder and President

Upcoming Dairy Goat Workshop in Honduras Sustainable Harvest Honduras welcomes Brit and Fleming Pfann of Celebrity Dairy to Yoro where they will host a seminar on raising dairy goats sustainably and making cheese. Local families working with SHI will take part in hands-on workshops accompanied by Sustainable Harvest staff from all four country programs. A Smaller World Tour will coincide with the seminar allowing supporters from around the world to take part and support the projects. We are currently accepting applications from international participants. For more information, please visit: www.sustainableharvest.org/tours.cfm

Spring Newsletter SHI's newsletter, La Cosecha, is full of articles about our programs in Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and Panama. It is available as a pdf download from the publications section of the SHI website, or click here to request a printed copy sent to your home.. Download the Spring 2008 edition to learn about a recent biochar workshop in Honduras, ongoing work in agroforestry in Nicaragua, marketing projects in Panama and upcoming Smaller World Tours to Belize. Click here for your copy.

Video of images and quotes from recent Smaller World Tour participants.

If the video dosen't appear here in your browser, click here to view on YouTube.

1,000 Trees for Earth Day!

Sustainable Harvest Belize is working to promote reforestation efforts countrywide by planting 1,000 trees in honor of Earth Week. Families will receive seedlings including coconuts, mahogany, cacao and citrus. Not only will these trees mitigate climate change by absorbing CO2 as they grow, they will also provide families with food and income, prevent erosion and provide habitat for animal species.

Click here to see photos of SHI's tree planting efforts in Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and Panama.

Learn how you can plant 100 trees in honor of Earth Day for just $25

Fighting Poverty in Paradise

The Toledo District in southern Belize is breathtaking. It is home to some of the last pockets of tropical forests, watersheds and traditional Mayan villages in the region. Howler monkeys, iguanas, parrots and even a couple of species of wild cats make their home here. Forest trails are lined with cacao, mahogany, rosewood and orchids.

While Belize's Toledo District may sound heavenly, more than 79% of the population lives on less than $1US a day. As families struggle to meet their basic needs, fragile ecosystems are cleared away by slash-and-burn farming practices. Cotton Tree Lodge and Sustainable Harvest Belize are working together to change that statistic.

Nestled in the jungle on the banks of the Moho River, Cotton Tree Lodge (CTL) is partnering with Sustainable Harvest Belize to address poverty and deforestation in the district. The Lodge has donated the funds to hire an SHI field trainer to work in the surrounding villages and has created a demonstration garden and training plots on site. While the guests at the lodge get to enjoy the organic produce provided by the garden, SHI's local staff get to test out new techniques. Participant farmers come to the site to take part in workshops on appropriate technologies that families can adopt to improve their quality of life while restoring the forest.

Twenty-three Belizean farmers took part in a recent workshop on drip irrigation and natural pest management at the lodge. Irma Gonzalez of Barranco village said, "The organic pesticide is remarkable. Apart from the health aspect, we also appreciate that it is affordable to make. The topics chosen [for the workshop] were realistic for our situation and we hope that more people will get to know these simple techniques in order to help save the world."

Visit Cotton Tree Lodge online or click here to learn about an upcoming Sustainable Chocolate Smaller World Tour hosted by SHI and CTL.

Sustainable Harvest International  •  779 North Bend Rd. Surry, ME 04684  •  207.669.8254 (phone)  •  866.683.6594 (toll free) •  207.669.8255 (fax)  •  shi@sustainableharvest.org  •  www.sustainableharvest.org

Smaller World: Reg. U.S. Pat. & T.M. Off