To save the land and its people, Episcopal Bishop of Haiti Zach Duracin in 1995 requested the Anglican Church of Canada to assist the diocese in opening a university that would teach agriculture. A visitor coming to Haiti by air first sees the barren brown hills and how mountain streams carry the soil into the valleys and into the Caribbean sea. Less apparent as one lands in Port-au-Prince and yet an inevitable consequence of this, are the large numbers of peasants who gravitate to the slums of the capital where they join the uneducated and unemployed who are already there.

With the loss of all sources of food and fuel which deforestation brings, some would argue these people have no choice but to come here in hopes of finding something better.

And yet, this is not a natural state for Haiti. Where peasants have been educated on how to look after the land, they tend soil that is rich and soft, with lush growth, delicious and plentiful fruit, fast growing crops.

To save the land and its people, Episcopal Bishop of Haiti Zach Duracin in 1995 requested the Anglican Church of Canada to assist the diocese in opening a university that would teach agriculture. Through its Volunteers for Mission programme, the Canadian Church found someone to head up this project in the person of John Veldhuis, a retired school principal from Bowmanville, Ontario. Mr. Veldhuis became the first president of Jacques Theodore Holly University, named after the first Anglican bishop of Haiti. The university's mandate was to teach Haitians to use their land wisely and to learn to feed and support themselves. Holly University opened in October, 1995 on the campus of College St Pierre in Port-au-Prince, with 14 students enrolled to study agriculture.

In February, 1996, the University added a school of business administration and in the fall of 1996, schools of silviculture (the study of trees) and of education. As of late last year, more than 100 students were enrolled to these four colleges. To gain international accreditation, to develop quality courses and to access the human and physical resources required to sustain the fledging school, Mr. Veldhuis formed several partnerships between Holly and different academic communities in Canada and the United States.

As of last fall, McGill University, and the University of Guelph, Cornell University and Iowa State University, Alfred College, the University of Western Ontario, the Nova Scotia College of Agriculture, the University of Ottawa and the University of Saskatchewan had all become academic partners.

Land outside Port-au-Prince has been set aside for a research farm for the students, a bright, friendly group, full of hope. The university has teamed up with a rural village where these students can apply their knowledge and practical skills by working with farmers.

With the exception of Mr. Veldhuis, the university's staff is comprised of Haitians.

The project needs the drive of volunteers to find money and supplies and, for those qualified, to teach part of the curriculum.