A special gift was given to HAFF which allowed for the creation of what was first called  "Milius' dream project.” Coordinated by Milius Hillaire of HAFF’s agricultural training program and being overseen by Colin and Carla Wilson, the initiative implemented a three-pronged approach to helping local farmers through short term encouragement and long term aid.

Rather than work with individual farmers, Milius' primary contact is with groups of farmers or gwoupmans, which are neighbors organized into informal cooperatives.

Some of the gift has been used to help build up a tool depot which will supply a practical resource for the gwoupmans with whom Milius works.  Hiring a team of oxen to plow a field is expensive; for many farmers, a machete is the only tool that they can afford. Preparing a field for planting by hand is best done with a pick or long-handled hoe, which can be a daunting task for a man working alone. But the gwoupman  concept calls for the entire group to descend on one farmer’s field and work in unison until his field is ready to plant. Then they move on to the next farmer's land. Having a tool depot will facilitate this process. The groups are used to sharing common resources. The newly purchased tools owned by the group will be accessible to all members of a

particular gwoupman.

Another portion of the gift has been utilized to provide a quantity of seed for the farmer groups, since our area of Haiti is chronically short of available, affordable seed. A revolving seed loan program has recently been established.  Milius has found that if each farmer puts in a certain amount of seed into a common depot at the beginning of harvest, the sense of group ownership keeps individuals from eating the seed during famines, so there is something leftover to plant the next spring. His idea for a group revolving loan was built out of this idea. The gwoupman buys seeds when they are plentiful, thus less expensive during the harvest. The seeds are dried and stored in a central location managed by the group. The gwoupman then sells them back to its individual members at a small profit.  In this way members are assured of finding some affordable seed and the group's fund continues to grow. Then the gwoupman will be able to make other type of loans to its members, also.

The God’s Leaves Project   This project is driven by a desire to vigorously promote two highly nutritious, albeit unexploited food plants - chaya and moringa - to help get the word out to the community that, when added to the daily diet, these plants can improve the overall nutrition of families.  We decided to start with getting our 64-member Haitian ministry team on board and enthusiastic with the idea. So we divided them into six groups and invited each, along with his/her spouse, to attend a special information session. The

entire American staff participated, along with Milius Hilaire, Farm Manager Ely Mompremier, Project Healthy Family coordinator Claude Souffrance, Teacher Training Coodinator Justin Mompremier, and Godly Woman Class Coordinator Mme Gesson Azeme.  We explained how these plants are power-packed with nutrition, especially protein, which is lacking in many Haitians' diet. We discussed that they grow well in our climate, are very tasty, and are easy to combine with most foods Haitians are used to preparing. We employed the

women who do the cooking for visiting Americans to prepare eight recipes that were

supplemented with the greens and served to our guests. This lent a party atmosphere to the events and everyone seemed to have a great time.  We gave bundles of chaya cuttings for them to take home, plant in their yards and use. We hope that they will get excited and sold on the benefits so that they may then share that excitement with their families, friends and community.  The reactions were very favorable. 

Gabriel Mompremier, vice-principal at our school, got so enthused that he helped the students organize a special day for them to hear about these plants and receive cuttings as well. We hope to offer them in the school’s hot-lunch program as we have them available and continue promoting these great plants.  They are also being distributed to other groups as the non-formal staff meets in their particular venues. We are excited about their potential.

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