August 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 than 70 people. We have gotten surprise donations from underpaid colleagues, long time supporters and new friends. We even got a special donation of materials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) after our friend Nicole read our email. Your contributions have brought tears to our eyes and allowed us to fulfill our responsibilities to the communities we serve. The money will go directly towards funding our operations on the ground and the materials will be used to build much needed irrigation systems for our nurseries, gardens and land rehabilitation projects. As always, we are moved by your donations and inspired by your solidarity.
The SOIL Poopmobile loaded up with donations sent by our friend Nicole at IOM
If you have not yet donated please consider making a small contribution to help us reach our goal by Wednesday. You can donate securely online at our website or by mailing a check to:
SOIL
124 Church Rd.
Sherburne, NY 13460
All checks dated before the 15th will go towards this drive.
With love from Port-au-Prince,
Sasha
- SOIL has new digs in Port-au-Prince. Read about our beautiful new office – surrounded by gardens and full of kittens!
- SOIL’s Regional Director in Cap-Haitien lives SOIL’s mission to transform wastes into resources. Read about his recent conversion of a former compost bin into a beautiful new home.
- The United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) supports SOIL’s agricultural projects with a Land for Life Award. Read their interview with Sasha.
- A summary of key takeaways and lessons learned from SOIL’s Sustainable Sanitation Conference held in June now live on SOIL’s website.
- SOIL’s collaborators and friends from Stanford University publish two interesting articles on their efforts to design and test a new household toilet model in Shada, Cap-Hatiien.
- Engineering for Change publishes “5 Questions With Sasha Kramer“.
- Whenver the internet works, SOIL staff upload beautiful pictures to the SOIL Flickr page. Check them out – you won’t be disappointed!
Get Involved:
- If you cannot donate at this time, you can show your support by joining us on Facebook and Twitter, we love knowing that you are with us in spirit.
- SOIL is collaborating with a group of grassroots organizations in Haiti to call for housing rights for the 400,000 people still homeless after the 2010 earthquake. Sign the petition.
- Are you into science? Do you have friends who are? A very deserving Haitian-run non-profit organization is seeking lab equipment donations to expand their ability to conduct needed agricultural experiments and tests in Haiti.
- Support SOIL in expanding the new Cap-Haitien waste treatment plant and growing EcoSan compost demo gardens with a direct project contribution on National Geographic’s Take Actionpage. National Geographic covers all the processing costs so 100% of your donations go straight to SOIL projects.
- We ask you to please consider joining the 70+ people who have already contributed to keeping the SOIL toilets open with a small donation today, even a small contribution can go a long way.
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