A Visit to Ti Fwaye

Portrait of a Haitian woman smiling. Her hair is parted and pulled back and she wears a blue tank top.

Jonette, age 32, trained as a peer educator for Ti Fwaye. She says, “Not only did I learn a lot myself, I also learned how to help other people and help those close to me. Ti Fwaye helps the children not to become malnourished.”

Outside, in front of sunny vegetation, a Haitian woman in a head wrap, T-shirt, and jeans speaks to an attentive group of women and children. Educational posters hang nearby.

The Ti Fwaye program ensures that lack of knowledge is not a barrier to healthy, well-nourished children. Local peer educators and SBH community health staff cover public health topics including water, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as nutrition, cooking, and feeding strategies.

A small child runs past educational posters strung on a line between palm trees. The posters, in Haitian Creole, depict a variety of foods.

Nutritional guidance from Haiti’s Ministry of Health (MSPP) focuses on three main food groups: Foods that build the body (proteins), Foods that provide energy (carbohydrates), and Foods that protect the body (fruits and vegetables).

A half-dozen Haitian children laugh and play together in dappled shade, in front of a cactus hedge. They range in age from about 2 to 10.

One participant, Juliana, shared, “My child was losing weight. The Ti Fwaye program showed me how and when to feed them. There were some foods they didn’t want to eat, but now when they come to Ti Fwaye, they eat them, they play with other children. My child is gaining weight.”

In a shady outside area, 5 Haitian women form a loose circle around a bowl of dough they’re forming into long dumplings. Some wear colorful polo shirts and others striped dresses.

Program participants and community health staff work together to form dough into dumplings that will boost the calorie content of the meal they’re preparing. The woman in the salmon shirt is nurse Ginette Elipha, featured in our story Going the Extra Mile for a Young Patient.

Two large pots sit on cinderblocks and rocks above an open fire. A woman in head wrap, T-shirt, and jeans feeds sticks into the fire.

In rural Haiti, cooking outside over an open fire is the norm. The Ti Fwaye program uses familiar cooking methods and inexpensive, locally available ingredients. The program teaches parents how they can prepare and serve these ingredients differently to keep their children healthy and minimize waste.

A dozen Haitian adults and small children in bright colors gather around a table, smiling. The mothers reach for metal bowls full of cooked food.

Photo © Nadia Todres

Once the meal they’ve prepared is ready and served, program participants and staff sit down to eat together. Ti Fwaye feeds children twice a day during the two weeks of the program. This photo, taken in a different location than the others, shows a meal of rice, black bean sauce, and mixed vegetables.