KATIA, a young schoolgirl who gives reasons to hope

We dedicate this section to the young people of Vallue who positively impact minds and their time. On one of Vallue's thousand hills, at an altitude of 650 meters, a young girl invites us to discover the story she is writing, a story worth telling. This is Katia Baptichon, the daughter of Louissone Baptichon and Jacqueline Lys. She was born in March 2007, in Zamor, where she lives with her mother, her father having passed away in 2015. She is the fifth of a family of 6 children, including 2 boys and 4 girls. Currently, she is in rhetoric class or NS3, at the Gérard Baptiste Community School of Vallue (ECGBV). She knows how to cook well and especially how to prepare this dish much loved by Haitians, which her mother taught her: rice, bean sauce, and vegetables. Hmm, it's good! Her dream is to study agronomy. She loves agriculture and wishes to become an agronomist, in order to be useful to her community and the country overall. She owns a plot where she has planted cabbage, bell pepper, leek, eggplant, and chili pepper. She started this pantry garden in January 2025, with the goal of beginning to practice agriculture not only to learn but also to consume and sell, she says. The plot of land she uses belongs to Jesper Charlot, a local farmer who, like her, is a member of the Vallue Youth and Culture Center (MJCV). He is the only adult on this youth platform. Katia requested his permission to use this sloping plot, a few meters upstream from her parents' house. Jesper Charlot allowed her to use it without compensation. She works her garden alone. Except for the terracing, she hired individuals, whom she fed. It was her mother who helped her get the means to feed the workers, buy seeds, and tools. Her work in the garden consists of planting, watering, maintaining, and selling. She dedicates an average of 45 minutes per day. She greatly enjoys the experience, which allows her to learn, for example, how to build a terrace and combat harmful insects. She was introduced to the pantry garden through the MJCV's "Green Hand" initiative, where she learned to make compost and received a watering can. This garden adds value to her life, providing a minimum of autonomy to satisfy certain small needs, such as buying underwear, instead of asking her mother. What she didn't like was a goat that ate her plants and also the lack of water during the dry season. She hopes to find the necessary means to reinforce and fence her enterprise against animal intrusion. Her message to young people her age is to also practice working the land. In this art, there is life, she said. Katia is a model of a young girl with character who gives reasons to hope: passionate about agriculture, when most young people in her category avoid it; a spirit of commitment and enterprise, and consequently, autonomy. What more civic quality could one ask of youth to build a great nation? Katia has charted her path: to become an agronomist to serve her community and the country. However, she needs support to strengthen her enterprise: to have a larger space, access to water, and to fence her garden. With this enterprise, she will be able to save money to finance her anniversary studies. She is not afraid to work. This is where you come in to encourage and help her achieve her goals. Happy May 1st, Agriculture and Labor Day. Abner Septembre
Centre Banyen Jardin Labo (CBJL)
& Sosyete Lakou Dessalines (SLD)
@ Vallue, May 1, 2025.