Dear Friends,
We are encouraged. With Haiti in shutdown, we in the States have gone through a season of waiting for things to stabilize and open up. Just days after returning home from my February visit the airport came under attack and all flights in and out were shut down, isolating Haiti completely from the outside world for several months. Today, thankfully, the airport is secure again and a few commercial flights in and out of the country have resumed. Getting to the island of La Gonave remains a challenge. Gang-controlled roads on the mainland continue to make it impossible to move people and supplies to the wharf. For now we’re relying on the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service to fly us out to the island. We must work within their con- straints (cargo limits, days of travel, etc.), but it’s a start and we’re thankful for them. We’re also thankful that Haiti has formed a transition leadership council whose priority is establishing a date for national elections. In addition, a multinational, Kenya-led United Nations peacekeeping force recently landed which gives us hope for gradually improved safety and stability, moving us closer to the day when shipping ports can reopen, and closer to the day we can resume hosting guests at the Starfysh guesthouse. It’s been too long!
What we can celebrate NOW is the resilience of our work in the midst of national crisis. Throughout, our working model of local, Haitian-led leader- ship has proven itself effective and strong, not dependent on outside help in addressing needs and moving
projects forward. Our early, hard-fought investment in securing official Haiti NGO recognition has paid dividends. Sadly, many charities on the main- land had to shut their doors. We’re so thankful that Starfysh’s work has been able to continue. Seeds of hope continue to sprout on La Gonave! Every one of our schools have been in session without interruptions. Every day, farmers show up to Life Garden to get seeds, seedlings and supplies. Trees planted in the past few years are now bearing fruit. Families across the island continue to respond to our challenge to build home latrines.
For one small Caribbean island, hope endures. And we, with God’s help, are privileged to play apart in delivering it. “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,” the songwriter exclaimed.
As I write, I need to tell you that Starfysh is going through a low ebb in our yearly giving cycle. Not all that unexpected during these “dog days” of Summer. At the moment we could really use a mid-Summer booster-shot of extra financial support. Would you prayerfully consider an extra gift at this time?
We count it a privilege to play our part in the delivery of hope to the poor and suffering of La Gonave, Haiti. Thanks for the role you play through your prayers and financial support. BOTH are paying big dividends!
Blessings to you all.
Steve Edmondson
President, Starfysh

Producing Trees
The problem of chronic hunger in Haiti is worse now than ever. While the entire nation is food insecure at some level, five million of its citizens (nearly half the country) are suffering from “crisis” or “emergency” levels of hunger, the next level being “famine.” The island of La Gonave is in the “emergen- cy” category. The reasons are multifactorial, sadly much of it man-made. Closed ports and roads and gang piracy on the sea have placed a strangle- hold on supply chains of food movement into and within the country.
Convinced that the agriculture sector will be key to a prosperous Haiti, Starfysh has, from the beginning, been pouring into the family farm. We just believe that the end of chronic food insecurity will not come in a bag of rice but through restoring (re-storing) the land with producing fruit trees and vegetable gardens. We lean into this vision today more than ever through our Life Garden initiative. Jaden Lavi, as it is known locally, has resourced families with tens of thousands of tree seedlings, trees that are bearing a harvest today! Our reputation for being the
go-to place for farming resources is island-wide, farmers from far and wide showing up daily at our nurseries with their donkeys, trucks, and wheelbarrows to get seeds and seedlings. The exciting challenge facing us is in improving our serve in this space, a space God is clearly blessing. We tripled the size of our shade nursery this past year. Our rainwater storage capacity is struggling to keep up with our increasing demands to water seedlings, especially through the dry “Winter” months and so we’ll soon be digging a well on site to address this. (Thank you, Lowell Rotary Club, for your partnership in making this happen!). And there is a constant flow of supplies needed (seeds, tools, grow bags, manure, etc.) to keep the production going!
It is exciting to think about the ongoing difference these trees will make, nutritionally and economically, for decades to come.



Buying Local
All agree that a thriving local marketplace will be key to a prosperous La Gonave. Supporting the local econ- omy by “buying local” whenever possible is one of the principles that guides our work on the island. Exam- ples of this is buying locally-grown rice for our school meals programs and employing local seamstresses to make school uniforms.
Another great example of how buying local can move an island in the direction of prosperity is embodied
in a man by the name of Fritzner. Fritzner is a young entrepreneur who, a few years back, figured out a way to make school backpacks in his tiny house on the salt flats. We figure, why ship them in from the States when we can support Fritzner’s business? And by doing so, we strengthen not only Fritzner and his family, but his employees(!), his Haitian raw materials suppliers, and of course the “trickle down” effect of those income dollars on the local economy. Could we buy cheap-er, made-in-China, backpacks and ship them in? Of course, but this wouldn’t serve to strengthen the La Gonave marketplace. We choose a better way.


Factoids
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Hydraid biosand filters, now under new ownership, are scheduled to resume production in August (here in Grand Rapids) and will be available to us shortly thereafter.
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High-nutritional value yams will be a emphasis to farmers for the 2025 growing season. We are already working on getting large plant stock supplies to distribute in the Spring.
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So far in 2024 we are averaging adding two family latrines per week.
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Caterpillars have been a significant challenge to La Gonave’s gardens and farms this year, especially up in the mountain gardens and farms. Life Garden’s mountain campus felt the impact the most.
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Starfysh, in collaboration with 3 partner organizations on the island, has come along side the island’s hospital (l’ Hopital Wesleyen ) in providing a program for ongoing prenatal education for expectant moms. Partnering organizations include The Decaid Project, The Lord Sees, and Global Partners Health Network.
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84 golfers teed it up for our 2024 Starfysh Golf Classic in June, raising money for our project efforts on the island. Lots of fun pictures of the event on our website. A big success and we’ll grow the event in 2025.
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618 students at our Starfysh schools received medical exams, provided by La Gonave Wesleyan Hospital nurses who also administered vitamins and anti-parasite medicine to each child. Wins all around, as the hospital is eager to collaborate with us in providing community health services across the island.
See images below of Children gathering for a group picture prior to their health assessments. Our youngest students gather for a pic prior to their medical assessments and hospital staff pause for a picture prior to a day of seeing school kids.
Seeds of Hope Gala – Join Us for an Evening of Impact!
Join us for the Seeds of Hope Gala on Nov 20! Enjoy an evening of food, fellowship, and inspiration as we share updates about Starfysh’s work on La Gonave, Haiti. Your support helps plant seeds of hope and opportunity. Click below to purchase your tickets!