Nutri-Garden Project in Haiti
MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY HEALTH AND POLICY INITIATES NUTRI-GARDEN PROJECT IN HAITI
A team of researchers from Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy’s Haiti Relief Task Force recently returned from Haiti after initiating a Nutri-Garden
project. This project was done in collaboration with the Christian Haitian Outreach Program,
an organization that serves as home to approximately 120 children. As Haitians continue to
recover from the earthquake in January 2010 that resulted in nearly 200,000 lives lost, this project helps children and staff of orphanages become self-sufficient by teaching them how to grow their own food.
The Research team consisted of Dr. Randy Rowel, assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Health Sciences, Dr. Andrea Taylor, APHA Executive Board member and assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Dr. Ivis Forrester, Nutrition Sciences Program, Dr. Ava Joubert, physician and medical missionary, and Jason Joubert, pre-med student and personal trainer.
While in Haiti the research team was led by Dr. Franco Jean Louis, a member of the Task Force who works for the Christian Haitian Outreach Program based in Carrefour, Haiti. Dr. Franco grew up in an orphanage and went to medical school. Additional trips are planned to integrate agriculture and nutritional science into the Christian Haitian Outreach Programs K12 school curriculum. Through this effort, Morgan’s SCHP is addressing the one of the most critical needs during Haiti’s recovery; hunger and improper nutrition for thousands of children living in orphanages as a result of the earthquake. Contact Randy Rowel at (443) 885-3138 if you have any questions about this project.
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