Friend of Slow Food Chicago and Production & Marketing Manager at Growing Power, Laurell Sims recently accepted the invitation to rule our Instagram feed for a few days. And with that, our Instagram Takeover went on its first international trip! Laurell put us in her pocket and allowed us a firsthand peek of the two weeks she spent with Growing Power working at Jaden Tap Tap, an urban farm in Cite Soleil, a neighborhood of Port Au Prince, Haiti. Her incredible photos and narrative captured her experiences and the remarkable progress that can be made when a community comes together. Read on to hear the story...

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Growing Power is working in Haiti for the next two weeks at Jaden Tap Tap, the urban farm at Sakala Ayiti (Pax Christi Ayiti). The farm is located in Cite Soleil, the largest, poorest and most stigmatized community in Port au Prince. When Daniel Tillias, the founder of the project told us the story of Cite Soleil, it reminded me of Cabrini Green, before it was "located just one mile from Chicago's Gold Coast." It's deep how colonization in its many manifestations can have such a vast impact for generations. What's also deep? How one man's dream can turn in to all of this. ‪#‎growbloomthrive

Cite Soleil lies at the lowest point of Port-au-Prince

Cite Soleil lies at the lowest point of Port-au-Prince, which means that all of the City's trash flows down stream. Waste is a huge issue in this city. Jaden Tap Tap, Haiti's largest urban farm, plans to turn this waste into compost.

Urban farmers showing off their worm composting

The goal for Jaden Tap Tap is to grow their own soil, to replace the contaminated soil at the urban farm at SAKALA. This is Waderson and Mackenson, urban farmers showing off their worm composting. The Kodelit, or youth program, has 8 teams of 15 students learning about agriculture and reforestation at the farm.

The Moringa tree is used for food, shade, fencing, and more

This is Jaden Tap Tap, the largest urban farm in Haiti. One thing that doesn't #growslow here is the Moringa tree. It is used for food, shade, fencing, and more. Also, to help with reforestation because it can grow 13 feet in just one year.

Founder of Jaden Tap Tap

This is Daniel Tillias, founder of Jaden Tap Tap. Today he taught over 100 kids how to compost. They filled their buckets with carbon and nitrogen, and filled the pallet compost bins with waste. It was nothing short of amazing

Morning weeding at Sakala.

Love this crew. ‪#‎sakala‬ ‪#‎jadentaptap

Today we pulled off a mission impossible. Hoop house is complete. Such a tremendous amount of work accomplished in such a short time by these young people. Gives me a ton of hope for Haiti. Actually, it gives me a huge amount of hope for this world. ‪#‎sakala‬ #sakala ‪#‎wedidthis‬