April 2013 Newsletter: Shada Flood
Dear friends, All of our long time supporters are by now familiar with the community of Shada in Cap-Haitien, where SOIL has been working since 2006. This is the home of the magnificent and charismatic Madame Bwa and the thousands of residents that inspire us with their courage and resilience. That courage was once again put to the test when spring rains brought massive flooding to the community of Shada earlier this week. Flooding is not new in Shada, as the low-lying neighborhood has always been hit hard during heavy rains, but this year...
read moreCDC Releases Report on SOIL Composting Process
Great news on the SOIL research front. In July 2012 SOIL hosted David Berendes, a Ph.D. student at Emory University and a research fellow from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Together with colleagues from the both Emory and the CDC, David conducted a study on the efficacy of SOIL’s composting process in killing pathogens found in human wastes. Although this was a short study (completed over a 2 week period) and ongoing pathogen testing will be required, the primary conclusion was that SOIL’s compost piles...
read moreTalking Soil with Peter Morgan
In May 2012 my husband Anthony and I had the very special opportunity to spend several days with a dear friend of mine, and SOIL’s deepest inspiration. Peter Morgan is a British Marine Biologist who has lived in Zimbabwe for over 40 years. Although trained as a biologist Peter has dedicated his life to addressing basic human rights such as water and sanitation. Though quite a humble man, Peter has been an inspiration not only to SOIL but to water and sanitation engineers around the world through his development of simple innovative...
read moreSOIL Honors our Outgoing Operations Director
It is with some sadness that we share the news that Nick Preneta, SOIL’s Operations Director in Port au Prince since the office opened in 2010, will be changing his role with SOIL. Nick has been the heart and soul of our Port-au-Prince team for 3 years and he will be sorely missed. We are delighted that Nick will remain on as SOIL’s Deputy Director for the coming months working closely with the team from his new home in Oregon, where he is settling in with his family. Although we all feel Nick’s absence, what we feel most of...
read moreJanuary 2013 Newsletter: Hope and Remembrance 3 Years Later
Dear Friends, I am writing this letter at 3:53 pm January 12, 2013. Three years ago today Port au Prince was bustling with activity as people spilled into the streets from work and school. Mothers returned home after a long day of working under the hot sun, fathers greeted their children with tired eyes, neighbors shared warm handshakes and laughed away the day’s challenges. One hour later the city collapsed and over 300,000 of these mothers, fathers, children and neighbors were lost in an instant. Last night at the stroke of midnight...
read moreKonpos Lakay Debut– Christmas Special
This holiday season SOIL has a special treat for plants throughout Haiti. We have 25,000 lbs. of beautiful compost ready for distribution at a special holiday price of just 75 HTG (less than $2 US) per 5-gallon bag. We even have given our compost a name “Konpos Lakay” which means “local compost” but sounds much cooler in Kreyol. This is our first large-scale distribution and the team in Port au Prince has been hard at work all week sifting, bagging and piling up the compost. We are so proud to see SOIL’s emergency sanitation work...
read moreDamning the Flood: SOIL’s Toilets Help Prevent Cholera During the Recent Flooding in Cap-Haitien
The rain started on the evening of November 8 and fell for 2 days straight. A combination of deforested hillsides and inadequate drainage meant that the city of Cap Haitien was flooding within hours. SOIL’s office in the center of downtown was surrounded by canals of dirty water, over 3 feet deep in some places, making it impossible to see the drainage holes and limiting pedestrian movement throughout the city. We were very lucky in that our office is located on the second floor and sustained only minimal damage from leaking walls. The...
read moreSOIL Stands with Our Friends on the East Coast
Dear friends, Just a quick update on the situation in Haiti and our fundraising efforts at SOIL. The rain from hurricane Sandy has mostly soaked into the mud and evaporated into the air, replenishing the rain that is falling on our friends along the east coast of the US today. For all of you who are currently sheltering from the storm, know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. Please take a moment to reflect on how lucky most of you receiving this email are to have a roof over your head and food in your pantry, as I did when Hurricane...
read moreSandy Update
Dear friends, We are writing to you to update you on the situation in Haiti with the passing of hurricane Sandy. Here in Port-au-Prince the rain has been coming down for three days straight, the most rain we have experienced since the earthquake. We are very lucky that everyone on our staff is safe and dry but our hearts go out to the thousands of people still living under tents whose lives are at risk from flooding and mudslides. Please keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers this weekend and we will continue to update you on the situation....
read moreOctober 2012 Newsletter: With Love from Port-au-Prince
Dear Friends, Another month has passed and thanks to your ongoing support SOIL has remained as active and dedicated as ever. We are most grateful to our friends and supporters for helping us to ensure that our emergency toilets in Port-au-Prince stay open. As the rainy season begins the threat of cholera is ever greater for the hundreds of thousands people still living under tarps in the capital Port-au-Prince. Your donations over the past month have made a real difference for the thousands of earthquake victims that SOIL continues to serve. I...
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