September 2021 Newsletter: From Response to Reconstruction
We are deeply grateful to our network for your incredible solidarity and generosity in the aftermath of the earthquake in southern Haiti a month ago. The most current assessments of the impact indicate over 2,200 people were killed and another estimated 12,000 people injured. Overall, more than 136,000 families have been impacted by the disaster.
Although many large aid groups immediately mobilized to respond to the earthquake, we have been particularly moved and inspired by the outpouring of support within Haiti. It has been humbling to see the ways in which - despite ...
Building Resilience: SOIL at World Water Week 2021
According to FAO, 2 billion people around the world live in areas plagued by physical water scarcity and another 1.6 billion face water scarcity due to a lack of the necessary infrastructure to bring water into their communities. As a result of the impacts of global climate change, the crisis is only anticipated to worsen. Half of the world is expected to be living in high-stress water areas by 2030. We see this reality every day in the communities in Haiti where SOIL works: water is expensive, hard to come by, and so often unsafe to drink. The lack of water ...
New U.N. Climate Report
The devastating impacts of climate change continue to mount around us, especially in vulnerable frontline communities like the ones SOIL serves in Haiti. The dread of climate change has become an indisputable reality, exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities, including the global sanitation crisis. Haiti is responsible for only 0.01% of global carbon dioxide emissions, but bears the impact of climate change more severely than most nations. Haiti’s increased climate vulnerability is due to multiple factors including geographic location, topographical features, populat...
SOIL Wins Environmental Justice Prize
We are very excited to share a noteworthy recognition SOIL recently received. SOIL was chosen as the Environmental Justice Prize winner of the Solution Search: Water Pollution and Behavior Change contest hosted by Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment. The award is given to the best contest entrant that achieves progress on environmental justice and addresses the disproportionate impact of water pollution on communities of color, indigenous groups, and marginalized communities. In addition to winning the Environmental Justice Prize, we are also in the running ...
Earthquake Response Update
Structural damage to home after earthquake (left). Chlorine distribution for water treatment (right).
We want to thank our incredible SOIL community for your generosity and support over this past week in response to the earthquake in southern Haiti. This outpouring of support has enabled SOIL to quickly purchase emergency supplies and coordinate a team of local first responders to bring necessities to the affected areas.
We are proud to partner with some of our long time collaborators and community leaders from the south who are from Jeremie and Roche a Bateau, and ...
Earthquake Response
On August 14th, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the southwest of Haiti. The damage has been significant and the death toll continues to rise in Les Cayes, the area most impacted. The SOIL team and our colleagues are all safe, but we are heartbroken as another traumatic event has devastated Haiti. In 2010 we watched in gratitude and awe at the outpouring of international support for Haiti. Now just over a decade later, we are again responding to the immediate need for support and emergency supplies for the affected areas, communities, and people that have endured yet another ...
Get to Know Our B Corporation Partner: World Centric
Despite the ongoing challenges of working in a fragile state, SOIL is making significant strides in providing dignified and affordable sanitation in Haiti, but our work would not be possible without the support of our incredibly generous partners. In 2016, SOIL began partnering with World Centric, an eco-conscious B Corporation that provides compostable packaging to the food service industry. This charitable partnership supports SOIL’s life changing sanitation work in Haiti – and, we’re big fans of their sustainability model, engaged employees and spirit of volunte...
Improving Customer Satisfaction: From Design to Large Scale Production
EkoLakay toilet with new urine diverter
Research plays a critical role in SOIL’s efforts to achieve strategic goals and advance knowledge in the sanitation sector. The Research team is also actively engaged in projects that aim to improve toilet design to better meet the needs of customers and ensure customer satisfaction across the entire sanitation chain. To do this, we regularly gather customer feedback to improve product quality and ensure a design that meets the needs of all users. Since 2015, the Research team has been testing new urine diverters for our contai...
Client Story: Meet Edeline La Fosse
EkoLakay customer, Edeline La Fosse, with SOIL staff Carine Roberts and Algate Joseph
SOIL is committed to empowering the communities we serve and creating a dignified, affordable and satisfactory service for all of our clients. This year, we’re focused on improving the cost efficiency of the service, increasing the number of EkoLakay clients, and testing a variety of improvements in our composting waste treatment process. Our goal is to provide a sustainable household sanitation service of the highest quality that meets the needs of the most vulnerable populations.
We ...
SOIL Mentioned on NPR’s Fresh Air Podcast
Photo courtesy of Ricardo Venegas
The SOIL team works extremely hard to provide safe and dignified sanitation to the communities we serve and build a more resilient future in Haiti. We’re also committed to spreading the word about the global sanitation crisis and love to see our work featured in different mediums around the world. Recently, Chelsea Wald was interviewed on NPR Podcast, Fresh Air, where she discussed her book, Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet, which debuted on April 6th. Pipe Dreams explores the incredible work that is ...
