Rasin Lavil Bay Lavi (Urban Roots Give Live) is an urban agroecology program in Haiti that empowers displaced and marginalized communities in Haiti by connecting them with training, tools and technology to plant and maintain urban gardens. With a special emphasis on women and youth, the program aims to bolster food security by making food locally available at lower prices, improving health, environment and community development. In April 2010, President Bill Clinton recognized Rasin Lavil Bay Lavi as an “outstanding” and “innovative” model for public health improvement and poverty alleviation.
In 2010, Rasin Lavil Bay Lavi partnered with SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) to plant an demonstrative rooftop garden in Cap Haitien using recycled tires, buckets and pvc pipe, led a two-day nutrition and urban gardening training workshop for more than 20 women, and provided the tools and technology (seeds, planting information, gardening tools) to plant 10 household gardens that benefited nearly 50 people in the Shada slum of Cap Haitien. Currently, in partnership with SAKALA- Pax Christi Ayiti, Bochika’s Rasin Lavil Bay Lavi is sponsoring the Jaden Tap Tap (Tap Tap Garden), a community-driven aboveground urban garden and reforestation program in Cite Soleil, Port au Prince.
Watch President Bill Clinton Support Bochika’s Rasin Lavil Bay Lavi:
Jaden Tap Tap (Tap Tap Garden)
The Jaden Tap Tap (Tap Tap Garden) is a community urban garden and tree nursery in Cite Soleil, Haiti. Set on over of land in Cite Soleil that was once a garbage dump, the garde now has more than 500 brightly-painted tire gardens , a flower garden, and a moringa tree nursery. The Jaden Tap Tap is a source of hope, as well as improvements in food security, health, environment, and community development for Cite Soleil. The Jaden Tap Tap aims to be a model for urban agriculture for the neighborhood, country, and the world- demonstrating that bountiful, nutritious gardens can be grown in even the harshest conditions.
As part of Pax Christi Ayiti’s SAKALA youth empowerment program, the Jaden Tap Tap is also a living classroom, providing youth with a safe, positive environment in which to learn the basics of agroecology, agroforestry, nutrition, and to develop their leadership and entrepreneurial skills. There are currently 250 youth and young adults in the Jaden Tap Tap program, each of whom is training to be a “specialist” on specific crops and thus serve as a resource to neighbors seeking to replicate the tire gardens in their own households.
Recycling waste and composting are important elements of the short and long term plan of the Jaden Tap Tap program. The garden itself now thrives where a garbage dumping site once was. The above-ground gardening techniques transform refuse to resources- tires abandoned on the side of the road are now colorful planters, lined with recycled rice sacks, and filled with compost purchased from our partners, SOIL (www.oursoil.org). The medium term plan of the program calls for a community trash separation, collection and composting component which will turn organic waste into compost and create employment and economic opportunity for the community youth.
Urban reforestation is an important component of the Jaden Tap Tap program that will improve soil retention, prevent flooding, and improve soil quality itself. The pepinye (nursery) provides saplings for youth and community members to plant, and eventually to sell to surrounding communities.
Watch an amazing short video on the Jaden Tap Tap!:
The subject of the film, the Tap Tap Garden, is Haiti’s largest urban garden, containing more than 500 brightly painted tire gardens and a nursery of 5,000 trees. This video highlights the Tap Tap Garden as a model for urban agriculture for the neighborhood, country, and the world – demonstrating that bountiful, nutritious gardens can be grown in even the harshest conditions. The Tap Tap Garden is an acre of former landfill that now symbolizes hope, empowerment, education, and opportunity for Cite Soleil, one of Haiti’s most impoverished neighborhoods. Most international agencies classify the neighborhood as a “red zone”, yet the Tap Tap Garden is turning it “green”.
Bochika and SAKALA would like to thank OnSlot Media for producing this short film, “A New Beginning in Cite Soleil: the Jaden Tap Tap” as well as all of our fellow partners in the Tap Tap Garden: SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods), Pax Christi Ayiti, Pax Christi USA, , Pro-Huerta, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Harambee Sustainability Group & Soccer1. To learn more about the Tap Tap Garden or Get Involved, visit www.bochika.org , or contact Herode Garry Laurent in Haiti (+509 37 75 6524,) or Ann Marie Warmenhoven in the United States (305-747-1984).
Why Here?
Watch an introduction to Cite Soleil by Pax Christi:
What do we plant?
Will it Work?
How Can I Help?
Donate
Whether its $1, $5, or $100, your tax-deductible donations will go directly towards the tools, seeds, and education that will make food more available to the community. Unlike large international organizations, we have low operational costs, and we have no salaries, we pay from our own pockets, and we use our vacation days; you can be sure that every dollar goes directly to the garden.
Bochika also collects donated items for the Jaden Tap Tap program and Pax-Christi-SAKALA’s youth empowerment sports program.
Wish List: Donations can also be dropped off at the University of Miami and Florida International University. Please email haiti@bochika.org to schedule a drop off.
Sponsor a Tap Tap Tire Garden
A donation of only $30 a month will sponsor the brightly-colored, recycled tire garden of one Jaden Tap Tap youth participant. Sponsors will receive a photo and thank you note from the youth member and will be able to follow their garden’s progress on the program’s blog.
$100 a month sponsors a household garden that will provide a much needed source of nutritious food for families in Cite Soleil, as well as a source of income for the youth program participants who will tend to the garden and mentor their owners on garden maintenance. Please visit our sponsorship page to sign up.
Volunteer
We are seeking nutritionists, agronomists, and avid gardeners to assist us with community training workshops. If you are able to volunteer, please contact Ann Marie, Haiti Program Director via phone, 305.747.1984 or email.
Haiti Photo Albums
Haiti News
Tonight! Bochika concludes first Little Haiti Farmers Market season and showcases Haiti’s Jaden Tap Tap tire garden during special Big Night in Little Haiti on Haitian Flag Day (Press Release)
Visit the Bochika-Little Haiti Farmers Market booth to purchase fresh locally grown Florida produce and to learn about the Jaden Tap Tap, Haiti’s largest urban garden Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 18, 2012: Join Bochika at the Big Night in Little Haiti from 6pm-10pm, Friday May 18, 2012 at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, located at 212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami 33139. This special event, celebrating Haitian Flag Day and featuring the music of T-Vice and Sanba Zao, will also mark the official end of the first season of Little Haiti...
read moreUpdate from Jaden Tap Tap: April 30- May 5
Weekly update from our partners at Sakala and the Jaden Tap Tap (translated from the Creole below): Greetings Bochika! Hello Bochika! In order to to move to another phase in the Tap Tap Garden during the rain season, a big decision was made to entrust the garden to 10 students who learned gardening techniques. We hope they will help the garden better succeed by working as supervisors for all 5 categories of children in Sakala. Week of April 30 through May 5, 2012: This week was a Konbit (Haitian term for a collective work...
read moreNew Moringa “Tree of Life Forest” Planted in Cite Soleil, Haiti at the Jaden Tap Tap (Press Release)
Bochika, SAKALA Ayiti & BioPlanet USA, together planted over 500 Moringa trees in Haiti’s Largest Urban Community Garden, the “Jaden Tap Tap” (Tap Tap Garden); More than 250 community members in Cite Soleil educated on the benefits of this “Miracle Tree” Miami, FL (PRWEB) April 30, 2012: Bochika, SAKALA (Pax Christi Ayiti) and BioPlanet USA are proud to announce the successful completion of an important urban reforestation effort at the Jaden Tap Tap, in Cite Soleil, just north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. More than 500 trees were...
read moreTuesday May 8: Charity Wine Tasting at Kork Wine & Cheese in Miami to benefit Bochika (Press Release)
Sample Kork’s selection of wine and cheese! $20 donation benefits Bochika’s programs that empower marginalized and impoverished communities in Haiti, Colombia and Miami. Miami, FL (PRWEB) April 30, 2012–Bochika and Kork invite the public to a Charity Wine Tasting, 7:30 pm, Tuesday, May 8 2012 at Kork Wine & Cheese, Miami’s most unique new bar. These drinks come have a purpose; all proceeds support Bochika’s programs that empower marginalized and impoverished communities in Haiti, Colombia and Miami. Miami’s only...
read morePhoto Gallery Updated!
Check out our Photo Gallery | Bochika.org, its been updated with new photos from our recent visit to Haiti and the Jaden Tap Tap.
read moreTONIGHT: 7:30 PM at Little Haiti Cultural Center: Community Talk with Daniel Tillias from Cité Soleil, Haiti: “With a Dream, Everything is Possible”
Bochika invites you to an exciting and inspiring talk by Daniel Tillias, the Executive Director of our partner organization in Cité Soleil, Haiti: March 27 from 7:30 – 9 pm at the Little Haiti Cultural Center. RSVP via Facebook Daniel is the Co-Founder of SAKALA (Pax Christi Ayiti), an organization dedicated to promoting peace and positive in Haiti through youth empowerment programs in sports, environment, education, and society. In essence, the mission of SAKALA is to provide postive-alternatives for at-risk youth in Cite Soleil to show...
read moreInspirational New Short Video Highlights Positive Side of Cite Soleil, Haiti
Don’t forget to “like” or “share” this video! This video, released by Bochika, SOIL & SAKALA, showcases Haiti’s Largest Urban Community Garden, the “Jaden Tap Tap” (Tap Tap Garden); More than 300 individuals and 10 organizations joined together to make the dream of a greener Haiti a reality MIAMI, FL – Bochika, SAKALA and SOIL are proud to announce the unveiling of a new short video that showcase’s the “Jaden Tap Tap” (Tap Tap Garden) and a positive side of Cite Soleil, Haiti that is...
read moreNational Geographic Photo Camp comes to Jaden Tap Tap in Cite Soleil via SOIL Blog
Friday was clear and hot, as 18 young Haitians from around Port au Prince piled out of vans onto the concrete soccer field in Pax Christi, site of the Jaden Tap Tap collaborative EcoSan and garden projects of SOIL and Bochika. The students were selected from their communities to participate in the week-long program, learning about cameras and shooting techniques. Every day they visited different sites and learned to capture images, from which they produced their own photo book at the end.National Geographic staff led them to the composting...
read moreEcoAlertRadio: Interview from Citi Soleil, Haiti with Bochika’s Ann Marie & Pax Christi Ayiti’s Daniel Tillias for Jaden Tap Tap- LISTEN Operation Green Leaves with Nadine Patrice
Bochika’s Ann Marie Warmenhoven was a recent guest on EcoAlert Radio with Nadine Patrice, produced by Operation Greenleaves. Ann Marie, reporting from Citi Soleil, Haiti and is joined by Daniel Tillias, the onsite project manager of the Jaden Tap Tap (Tap Tap Garden). The radio segment was great, thank you to Nadine and to Operation Greenleaves! Listen to hear Ann Marie and Daniel discuss our Urban Agriculture work in Haiti and the inauguration of the Jaden Tap Tap on January 22, 2012. You can listen to the segment below or...
read moreTap Tap Inauguration Photos!
Check out the Photo Gallery page for photos from the awesome Tap Tap Inauguation! Sadly, our memory card from the event is missing so we are still looking for more photos, if you have them, please email or share your album with haiti(at)bochika.org! Thanks! Shashin Error:Invalid shortcode attribute: 0
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