Arbor Day is a day celebrated internationally to honor the environment and many celebrate by planting trees. In Haiti, it is about the environment, and also holds a connotation to natural living. To honor this, Nadege Similien, Back2Back Haiti Strong Families captain, hosted a nutritionist and the five moms in the program to learn more about choosing foods to nourish their bodies, not just fill their stomach. Following the instructional part of the class, they all cooked a healthy meal together.
“There are a few trees in Haiti whose leaves are used as ingredients in cooking,” explained Nadege. “They are equivalent to kale and spinach, and we gave the families who attended lyan panye plants, which are rich in iron.” Fey doliv, which grows on the Back2Back campus, is another plant with leaves used to make a dish similar to fried rice without egg.
Together, Nadege and the teacher – both a nutritionist and physician, encouraged the families to use more natural foods and ingredients to prepare meals in a healthy way. Together, they made a low-sodium spaghetti with spinach meal and the families were given additional recipes for smoothies they can make without a blender. After the class and preparation for the meal, the children joined their parents to enjoy the food together. The families were sent home with a tree to plant that will produce the edible ingredients to use for their family meals.
Together, staff are dedicated to providing holistic care and life skills classes just like this to the strong families of Haiti. Please join Back2Back in prayer that each parent present for the classes would absorb the information and truly take to heart the new things they are learning as they care for their families.