AIDG-SOL-AFAPA Toilet in Petit Anse
The Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) helps individuals and communities get affordable and environmentally-sound access to electricity, sanitation and clean water through a combination of business incubation, education and outreach.  AIDG has worked extensively in Guatemala and recently set up an office in Cap Haitien where they will be focusing on developing small businesses related to sanitation.  SOIL hosted AIDG founder Peter Haas for the month of August, and SOIL co-founder Sarah Brownell worked as their Haiti director for the summer to help get the program off the ground. Given the similarity of our missions and philosophies AIDG and SOIL plan to work collaboratively towards our shared goals of providing access to affordable water and sanitation technologies in northern Haiti.
As part of our collaboration, AIDG generously offered to finance the construction of a community dry toilet.  This project offered a chance for AIDG members in Cap Haitien to work alongside SOL staff, gaining valuable experience in implementing community development initiatives.  For the past 6 months SOIL and our Haitian partner organization SOL have been accepting letters from Haitian community organizations requesting public toilets, and this provided an ideal opportunity to meet the needs of one of these organizations.  SOL decided to construct the toilet in the community of Petit Anse, a crowded urban community on the outskirts of Cap Haitien. 


The request for a public toilet came from a woman’s group in Petit Anse called AFAPA (Asosyasyon Fanm Aktif Petit Anse).  This group of approximately 40 women showed their commitment to the project through weekly visits to the SOL offices. The women wanted to construct a large public toilet near the market where hundreds of women work each day, selling meats and produce.  The only toilet in the area is a rundown latrine that is nearly full, difficult to access and surrounded by garbage.

In October SOL and AIDG began surveying the site along with the women from AFAPA.  Together they compiled a budget, selected a site and obtained authorization from local officials.  Construction was delayed by heavy rains, flooding and construction near the marketplace but, once underway in mid-November, the toilet was constructed in 6 days.  The women from AFAPA participated 100%, from purchasing all of the materials to hauling blocks. 

 

The toilet was inaugurated on December 16 in a beautiful event organized by AFAPA that brought out people from all over the community.

AFAPA chose to charge people from the market a small fee to use the toilet (2 gourdes = ~5 cents US). The money collected is used to pay someone to manage the toilet and to buy toilet paper and cleaning supplies. The toilet was opened to the public on December  17 and remains in excellent shape one month later.

SOIL plans to work with AFAPA to develop a community composting site where the old latrine was located (as it will soon be destroyed) and to engage children from the community in the Fatra pa Ekiste contest.