Let Sleeping Cows Lie: SOIL Executive Director Mauled by Cow
As many of you know SOIL’s dear Executive Director Sasha Kramer loves animals. Unfortunately, while attempting to wake up Uit the cow for a late night snack of a hot, salty potato, Sasha became tangled in Uit’s lead rope and was dragged across the field at the SOIL farm in Limonade. Sasha has thankfully since recovered, but she may reconsider the timing for giving hot, salty potato snacks to cows. We hope that you enjoy the reenactment photos below and remember to let sleeping cows lie.
read moreApril 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 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 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...
read moreSOIL’s New Digs!
SOIL moved into a new office in Port au Prince in July and we wanted to share some photos of our new digs. We have come full circle since the earthquake and moved back into the house where SOIL Port au Prince started, formally known to many as the coalition house. When Nick, Bobo, Paul and I came to Port au Prince in January 2010 we spent 2 months living in the backyard behind Matthew 25, next door to the soccer field, Park Izmery, which at the time had over 2000 people living on it. We fell in love with this community in the heart of...
read moreAugust 2012 Newsletter: 70 Friends Keep the Toilets Open
Dear friends, Another month gone by and so much has happened. Our nurseries are blooming, our team is growing closer every day and our toilets are still open, thanks to you. Last week we wrote to you to reach out for emergency support and you have overwhelmed us with your generosity. SOIL is facing a temporary funding crisis and we are trying to raise $10,000 by August 15th to ensure that our toilets stay open and our hardworking staff are compensated for their sacrifices. As of this writing we have raised $5,300 from more...
read moreSOIL’s Regional Director Moves Into a Compost Bin!
That’s right, our beloved Regional Director, Theo Huitema, has now officially become a shining example of our organizational mission to transform wastes into resources by building his home inside our old compost bins in Limonade, northern Haiti. In January 2012, the mayor of Limonade asked SOIL to relocate our northern Haiti compost site in accordance with a new plan for the development of the region. Although it was sad to leave behind our beautiful new compost bins, which had only been used for 4 months, we gladly obliged and have since...
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