The other day, we had the opportunity to visit locals in a Bate’ in Azua, Dominican Republic. A bate’ is a poor, rural community that can be found in many bordering Haitian cities in the Dominican. Often times, these Haitians will come across the border with a promise of a better future for them and their families. They live in the Dominican and work for farmers, only to be shipped off as illegal immigrants a few days  before it is time to be paid.  Some of them will get paid a small wage and are able to find refuge in these make shift shanty towns, not much better than tent cities in Haiti.

In Azua, our team has completed an underground rain catchment tank to provide water to this community. (See previous blog) During some down time, we went for a walk with one of our friends an mentors, Sean. He pointed out areas of Haitian poverty and Domincans who were living amongst them, as well. While on our walk, we spotted a Moringa Tree off in the distance. This tree is an amazing, life saving tree that we teach about in our classes in Kona!

To get a better look, we walked closer and eventually ended up being invited into the home of a poor Dominican family. In the shack, 2 families made their home. As we plucked some moringa off of the branches, Sean was able to communicate with the family about the Miracle Tree they had growing in their back yard. In a community ridden with malnutrition and dirty water, moringa can save lives!

It was super encouraging to me to see our theoretical teachings right in front of our faces. It was a magical moment :). Check out moringa for yourself…and look at these amazing statistics! Go to: http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa

This is a map of all the places in the world suffering from malnutrition

This is a map of all the places in the world where Moringa Trees grow!