I’m young. What can I really do to make a difference? I may be older now, but I’m just one person? How does what I do really matter? 

Those are common sentiments, human nature being what it is. We often give ourselves excuses, but then a story comes along to show one person, one vision, one voice can matter. 

Christian Heiden was 17 years old when he founded Levo International to address food insecurity in Haiti. A year earlier he sought to do an Eagle Scout project in Haiti — building hydroponic systems for growing food — but the Boys Scouts nixed the idea, according to a 2022 article in The Hartford Courant, in part because it was impractical to send a teenager to Haiti to build the systems. He ended up building them at his high school, Northwest Catholic in West Hartford, Conn., but never gave up on the idea of helping people with food insecurity. 

Today Levo operates not only in Haiti, but also in Mexico and Hartford. The Hartford location is the site that about 30 students in the Global & Environmental Studies Certificate (GESC) program recently visited. The certificate recognizes coursework, co-curricular engagement, and experiential learning and requires a capstone project.  

“I think it's important to recognize that even as a student, you can make a difference, and that the projects we’ll be working on in GESC could have influential and long-lasting impacts,” said senior Brookie Olson, one of the students who made the trip to Hartford. 

The students had a pre-visit assignment from GESC advisor Richard Karrat that involved learning about both the organization and food issues. 

“Something I didn't know was that Hartford is the seventh-largest food desert in the U.S.” Brookie said. “In our pre-seminar assignment, we learned about food sovereignty and food deserts, so it was really interesting to learn how Levo is empowering community members to have this sovereignty over their nutrition decisions. Visiting them definitely made me think more about food access in my own communities.” 

On its website, Levo says that by 2028 its use of hydroponics will allow the organization to reach its goal of one million pounds of vegetables grown in Hartford. One element of a food desert is the lack of fresh, healthy, nutritious food. 

Richard said it is important for GESC students to get off campus and “see what great things people are doing in the community.” He also said that learning about the founder provides inspiration for the students — “someone their age took action.” 

“We also saw the intersection of global and environmental issues,” Richard said. “Food deserts can exist in Haiti, in Mexico, in Hartford. And it was great for the kids to see the hydroponics, where you can grow using less water than traditional farming.” 

After learning more about the organization on the day of the visit, the students split into groups to do some work, including pruning vegetables. Yet another tenet of the GESC program was on display: taking action.