Under Fire

Dear friends,

Just a few short months ago, I wrote to you about how the SOIL team has transformed a section of Trutier in the Port-au-Prince city dump. While we're happy to have created a lovely, lush little outpost in the sea of trash and rubble, we're even prouder of what happens there every day: thousands of pounds of human waste are slowly being transformed into rich, organic compost.

Unfortunately, all of our hard work at Trutier recently came under fire - literally. The private company which was helping to operate the landfill lost financing and pulled out, leaving the government with very limited staff and equipment. Without the resources for careful management, the landfill was quickly overrun with piles of trash dumped haphazardly in the road and set on fire.

[caption id="attachment_3907" align="alignright" width="300"] The fence burned and collapsed on the southern perimeter of SOIL's site in Trutier.[/caption]

Our compost team arrived one day to find garbage trucks dumping right outside of the SOIL gates. A large section of our fence, and the gardens inside, were already destroyed by the piles of burning trash. Fortunately, our heroic staff were able to put out the fires and save SOIL's composting site.

We contacted SMCRS, the government waste management authority who granted SOIL space at Trutier. They offered their assurances that they want to protect SOIL's site and granted us permission to construct a new gate across the road that would prevent garbage trucks from entering our section of the dump.

[caption id="attachment_3910" align="alignleft" width="300"] Constructing a new gate to prevent garbage trucks from dumping on the road to the SOIL site.[/caption]

With the new gate in place and repairs to the site underway, we know that time (and plenty of compost!) will help SOIL's corner of Trutier become the beautiful oasis it once was. But we need your help to complete repairs and ensure that the emergency at Trutier doesn't derail our waste treatment process or other planned projects this year.

Our waste treatment services - based on simple ecological principles - are some of the lowest cost waste treatment services in the world, and they play a critical role in fighting cholera and improving public health in Haiti. We're dedicated to keeping our site open in Port-au-Prince as thousands of people depend on this site for safe, reliable waste treatment services. Also, the compost produced at this site helps members of our community nourish their gardens, farms, and reforestation projects.

Please help us keep this critical project going through the ups and downs of working in Haiti by making a donation to SOIL. We estimate that we need to raise $3,000 to cover the repairs.

Thank you for your ongoing support and thank you for helping us make Haiti green with gardens and fruit trees again!

Erica