Fresh Air Field Trip Branches Out

With agricultural day approaching on May 1st Haitians are preparing to exhibit environmental projects and programs on Champs de Mars in Port-au-Prince, the town of Jacmel and elsewhere around the country with much enthusiasm. But in the mean time not enough is being done about waste management, basic problems and emphasis on change. Not enough, but something on a small scale with a generation that can contribute to the solutions needed to improve Haiti’s environment.

Again Norwich Mission House and Jane Wynne at Wynne Farm and the Wynne Foundation for the Environment teamed up to bring 12 girls ages 10 thru 13 from Foyer des Filles de Dieu Orphanage, founded and run by Paula Thybulle in Port-au-Prince to Wynne Farm for a day of environmental education. The girls with their best manners enjoyed the charismatic company and environmental brilliance of Jane Wynne.

I won’t go through the litany of things the girls did during the field trip but rather I want to look at the intended influence of this ongoing initiative. As major U.S. magazines, Time and Vanity Fair recently attempted to reinvigorate, through their headlines the concerns of global warming and the condition of the environment, Haiti should especially take note of the trouble its own environment faces and pursue ways to change the direction it is headed in. Without subsidies for alternative fuel, proper economic incentives to change, and a major social campaign to educate the public change won’t happen. The Fresh Air Field Trip Initiative is part of the private campaign to educate the public. With the collaboration of individuals like Jane Wynne, Paula Thybulle, Bro. Pierre St. Vistal of City of God and Robert and Danielle Penette of Arc-en-Ciel and volunteers from the Norwich Mission House family who understand the importance of caring for the environment the Fresh Air Field Trip Initiative will make a difference. From their first trip to the many to come bringing these issues to the children in the format we provide is going to influence how they act and treat their country. We should all continue to support this simple program.