Meet John Peter: SOIL's New IT Assistant

John Peter Carenent is SOIL’s newest IT Assistant at the Cap-Haitien office, bringing with him a passion for Information Technology and its potential to scale and enhance our organizational operations. He is deeply grounded in his values and comes to work everyday with persistence and drive.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with John Peter for an interview, and we’re excited to highlight how exceptional he is both as an individual and as a member of the SOIL team.  

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I did all my schooling in Port au Prince from elementary through high school. I tried to take a board exam for civil engineering but didn’t excel in that subject and decided to instead pursue Informational Technology sciences. From there my curiosity for the subject took off, and I found my strong suit in IT. I went on to get my masters in IT at a University in Port au Prince, but unfortunately the security situation required that I leave the city and move to Cap-Haitien.

Once I got to Cap-Haitien I applied for the SOIL position and got it. Since then I have been living and working in Cap-Haitien. 

How did you hear about SOIL’s work and what was your interest in applying for this position?

Because I was new to the area, I didn’t have a lot of people within my network that had heard about SOIL. During my job search, SOIL was one of the companies that I applied to. After applying to SOIL, I asked my neighbors more about SOIL’s services and reputation. 

What piqued my interest in particular was how the toilets were made, I had never heard about dry composting toilets before. I was sort of hesitant at first, and working in sanitation wasn’t something that really stood out to me. When I came to the SOIL office for my first interview, they showed me how the bonzode (sugar cane husks) turned human waste into compost and I was captivated by the process.

After seeing what SOIL does and the impact being made, I knew that it was a job I would feel good about doing.

What is your primary goal in this role?

My primary goal is to speak to the relevance of what my department does and how vital and important it is to the operation and success of our other departments. 

Ultimately, I want to let people know about the importance of the systems that we are overseeing in the IT Department. Illuminating what the systems and IT software does, its impact, and how it compliments and supports all of our efforts on the ground.

What is the impact you see SOIL having and why do you feel that it is important? 

The impact that SOIL has on the community is, from my experience, especially relevant in communities where people don’t have a toilet in their household. Families adopt better sanitation practices by having a toilet in the house. 

Oftentimes, if someone receives a guest in their home and there is no toilet, the guest is left with no option but to use an outdoor space to go to the bathroom - which isn’t safe or comfortable for that person. With a SOIL toilet, when receiving a guest, the guest can use the bathroom in private and feel more comfortable. From what I’ve seen SOIL promotes better and safer accommodation practices.

From a community health standpoint, having access to the toilet solves and prevents diseases like typhoid from spreading in the community and saves lives. Because typhoid is a pathogenic disease, this not only affects the person that is sick, but also the surrounding areas. This is undoubtedly a big sanitation win for SOIL and the communities that they work in. Seeing how impactful these sanitation services are, I believe that governmental authorities should be more involved in SOIL’s ability to expand services, and strive to work in tandem with what SOIL does for the community. 

Where do you hope to see Haiti in ten years?

For Haiti, in the next five to ten years I think there’s a lot that can be done and I have faith in progress being made. The hurdles are encouraging people to adopt better practices and adapt to better methods of living. We can definitely raise the standards of living. Of course it will take immense determination and awareness of the problem needs to be recognized. Progress can continue with the hard work of those who are passionate about creating change and staying committed to implementing solutions. 

What do you want SOIL supporters to know about you?

I want to be remembered and known as someone who helped further SOIL’s mission and objective. The organization is a work in progress, and there are a lot of dedicated and skilled people making the day-to-day operations happen. Throughout every hardship, our staff continues to work and ensure that our services are available to the community. Coming here to work on a daily basis is much more than just a paycheck. 

Anything else you would like to add? 

When I lived in Port au Prince, my neighborhood was a hot zone for gang violence and crime, but I was still determined to go to work and live my life as a productive member of my community. Leaving my house everyday knowing that my life was in danger was a terrifying reality, but I still woke up, got ready, and made my commute to work because of how committed I felt to the mission of the company I worked for. I believed that the mission of what I was doing was bigger than myself, and was helping my country. 

Now, living in Cap-Haitian, I am proud to feel that same way about SOIL and the work that I do here.