HRP’s Mentorship Class is training the next generation of farmers, leaders, and reforestation workers in Haiti.
Dear friends,
For some young people in Haiti, finishing high school does not lead to college, a first job, or an obvious next step.
Sometimes it leads to waiting.
Waiting because there is no money for university. Waiting because work is hard to find. Waiting because even a young person with energy, intelligence, and ambition may not know where to go next.
That is where the HRP Mentorship Class comes in.
This year, we began our fourth generation of the Mentorship Program. The class started in July 2026 and will continue through June 2027. There are 15 students in this group: five from CODEP zones, five from Tom Gateau, and five from Saint Étienne.
They are mostly in their late teens and early twenties. They have finished high school, but they do not have the money to continue their education right away. So they give this year to CODEP.
And CODEP gives them something that can change the direction of their lives.
The students come to learn about community gardens, agroforestry, reforestation, and the practical skills needed to grow food and care for the land. They are being trained by HRP animators, many of whom either went through this same Mentorship Program themselves or were supported by HRP to continue their studies and then came back to serve their communities.
That matters.
This is not just a class. It is a path.
Each student receives $50 USD a month to attend. That may sound small, but it is not small in their lives. Usually, about half goes toward transportation, and the rest often goes home to help their families buy food.
This year, the students did something that touched us deeply. They used part of their money to buy their own shirts.
That may seem like a small detail, but it says a lot. It says they are proud to belong. It says they see themselves as part of something. It says this program is giving them more than training. It is giving them identity, responsibility, and a place in the future of CODEP.
We have already seen what can happen.
Two former Mentorship students, Faude Paraison and Naguerre Saintine, have gone on to start zones in their own communities and are now serving as animators. They are not only using what they learned. They are passing it on.
Two others, Barbarah and Lind-Jerry, are studying agriculture at the University of Fondwa, supported through HRP. The cost is about $1,000 per year per student. For many families, that would be impossible. For these students, it opens a door.
The Mentorship Class is helping form the future farmers of Haiti. But more than that, it is helping form future leaders. These students learn how to plant, how to organize, how to care for soil, how to understand the rhythm of gardens and trees, and how to become useful in their own communities.
We have seen this program change lives. We have seen it change family dynamics. We have seen young people gain confidence, direction, and the chance to imagine a future that is not only about leaving, but about building something where they are.
Now we need help to keep it going.
The Mentorship Class is facing a real funding gap, and we do not want this opportunity to shrink just when we are seeing how powerful it can be.
Soon, we will be launching a sponsorship program so that donors can support students more directly and walk alongside them during their year of training. If you are interested in being part of that, please write to us. We would be grateful to hear from you.
And if you are able to help today, your gift will make an immediate difference.
Your donation helps pay for student’s transportation, training, garden materials, tools, and the animators who teach and guide them. It helps young people stay connected to the land, support their families, and become part of the reforestation work Haiti needs.
Please consider making a gift today.
Donate here:
https://www.haitireforest.org/donate
Thank you for helping us invest in young people, in reforestation, and in a future that can grow from the ground up.
With gratitude,
Michael Anello
Executive Director
Haiti Reforestation Partnership