SEED Ministries in Haiti was founded and is directed by Frantz and Doris Clotaire. This Christian organization is in the Les Cayes area, on the southern peninsula of Haiti. It is devoted to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and providing post-secondary education that includes (both Bible) and agricultural-development training.
SEED is an acronym for
Service done in Christ’s name and inspired and guided by the needs of the community,
Evangelization to be achieved through a discipleship process, focusing on practicing the message of Christ by sharing the Word, one’s life and one’s resources,
Education classes which are taught from a Biblical perspective and seek to expose the student to new ideas and better methods of agriculture production and animal husbandry, and
Development that allows service, evangelization, and education to become rooted like a germinating SEED and grow into a life-long way of living.
SEED was founded in 1992 and has been providing 3-year training programs since October 1994. A 5-year baccalaureate-type program was added and SEED graduated 18 students already on May 15, 2021. This was the first group of students to graduate at this level. The 3-year program is recognized and accredited within Haiti. Application for accreditation of the 5-year program is in progress and has been submitted to the Haitian government.
Enrollment commonly totals around 250 with most students coming from rural areas. A distinctive feature of SEED training is the hands-on experience. At the end of their 3-year program and again if they continue in the 5-year program, each student is placed under the leadership of a village-church pastor and challenged to impact the economic development of that village. While on campus, each student operates and manages an assigned production enterprise on the SEED Farm. USITA is the acronym for SEED’s school; it roughly translates SEED Institute for Tropical Agriculture. Pictures, images and stories of the students’ activities are shared on the school’s Facebook page and Doris Clotaire page.
Frantz also expresses a role beyond what he has with SEED. He maintains contact with many graduates and a familiarity with many churches in the southern peninsula. As a result, he often facilitates networking among churches and provides encouragement and counsel.
More than half of the funds needed to run SEED normally come from student tuition and production from the SEED Farm. Students participate in all production activities with production including vegetables, rice, eggs, yogurt, and meat. Veterinary clinics and workshops demonstrating production techniques are provided in neighboring villages as agricultural extension-type activities. The students in the 5-year program put on an Ag Fair this past May first. Reception of the event by the surrounding community was excellent. Students came with their teachers from several schools that are in the surrounding area. The 5th-year students were able to demonstrate what they had learned and also offered their homemade goods for sale. The SEED Farm also produces and distributes tree seedlings for reforestation and fruit production and has a small research component for optimizing agronomic practices.
· Facebook USITA URL: https://www.facebook.com/usitafazoot
- Facebook Doris Clotaire: https://web.facebook.com/doris.clotaire
S.E.E.D. Ministries, Inc. is a charitable organization and can issue receipts for tax deduction in the USA