Women in Sanitation: SOIL’s Nazulia Dejoie
We are continuing to celebrate this Women’s History Month by sharing interviews with some of the incredible women staff we have working at SOIL. We are proud to be working at the forefront of providing dignified, formal livelihood opportunities to Haitian women in the sanitation sector. We celebrate these women this month and every month! Recently we had the opportunity to speak with Nazulia Dejoie, a long-time member of SOIL’s Compost Site Staff and 2023 nominee of the TNUSSP Women in Sanitation, about her life and her job and what it’s like to be a woman ...
Meet Madame Petit: DINEPA’s Director of Sanitation
During this Women’s History Month, we are celebrating the often unheard voices of Haitian women working in sanitation and celebrating those who were selected as 2023 Women in Sanitation nominees. Recently we had the opportunity to speak with Edwige Petit, Director of Sanitation at the Haitian Sanitation Authority (DINEPA), about her life and her job and what it’s like to be a woman working in sanitation. Interviewer: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Edwige: I am the head of sanitation at DINEPA. I am a Haitian citizen who has big dreams for my ...
Support SOIL’s Growth & Help Us Grind More Bonzodè
SOIL's current grinders and bonzodè production.
As Haiti's capital and surrounding areas continue to be gripped by ongoing insecurity and unrest, our hearts and minds have been heavy with thoughts of the families who are leaving their homes and the city, hoping to find respite from the turmoil. In these troublesome times, when so many Haitians are experiencing hardships that many of us can barely begin to imagine, we here at SOIL remain evermore committed to standing in solidarity with our Haitian colleagues and friends. We start from the supposition that access to ...
Meet Yvrose: EkoLakay Coordinator
At SOIL, women’s voices are at the forefront of our work. As a women-led social enterprise, we’re committed to gender equity in livelihood creation and in hiring women in all positions, making a significant effort to recruit female employees. During this Women’s History Month, we are celebrating the members of our staff (and DINEPA) who were selected as 2023 Women in Sanitation by sharing interviews and videos of these current history-makers that we are so proud to work alongside of. Recently we spoke with Yvrose Pailleur, one of SOIL’s EkoLakay coordinat...
Staff from SOIL and DINEPA Selected as 2023 Women In Sanitation
The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)-led Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP) initiated their Women in Sanitation campaign in 2020 with the intention of recognizing and celebrating the work of women sanitation professionals, creating a platform to share their stories, and inspiring other women to pursue a career in the field. We are excited to report that four members of SOIL’s staff Algate Joseph, Yvrose Pailleur, Georgette François and Nazulia Dejoie, along with Edwidge Petit, DINEPA’s Director of Sanitation, were chosen to be ...
SOIL’S EkoMobil Toilets Provide Sanitation Services at Boulva Naval
Photo Credit: Sakapfet OKAP
On February 5th, 12th and 18th the second annual Boulva Naval festivities took place on the boulevard du Cap-Haïtien with the theme: A City, A Youth, A Culture and created an atmosphere of celebration in the city. The event included parades of dancers, acrobats, walking bands and a float carrying a DJ. As Haiti continues battling crisis after crisis — including ongoing insecurity in Port-au-Prince — and the national Kanaval being canceled again this year, residents of cities across Haiti kicked off local carnivals over the past month, ...
Envisioning and Planning for the Future
This past month, members of SOIL’s management teams gathered in Cap-Haitien to spend a few days digging into our long-term strategic planning and goals as an organization. The gathering was not only about addressing big questions, but also a wonderful opportunity to connect with one another and get rejuvenated and reaffirmed in our commitment to the work we are doing. This workshop was a rare and welcome opportunity to bring SOIL leadership together under one roof. The team was incredibly excited to have time to work “tèt ansanm” (or “heads together”), as ...
SOIL Grows Through It All
A time-lapse map illustrates SOIL's household service growth from 2014 - 2022
Since its founding in 2007, SOIL has been working to provide regenerative and life-saving sanitation services to meet the vastly unmet need for improved sanitation in Haiti, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas. SOIL’s flagship household service, EkoLakay, was first piloted in Cap-Haitien in 2014, and since this time, has expanded to reach over 2,200 households, providing more than 13,000 people in urban Haiti with safely managed sanitation. Each and every household that joins our ...
SOIL provides dignified sanitation at PapJazz
SOIL's EkoMobil toilets line the Boulevard in Carenage during the Jazz Festival
Since 2007 the Port-au-Prince Jazz Festival has welcomed some of the biggest international names in jazz and R&B to Haiti. The Festival was founded in 2007 by the Haiti Jazz Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising the level of the Haitian music industry using jazz music as a tool. The 2023 celebration took place over this past weekend. SOIL was proud to be a part of the festivities by providing our EkoMobil rental toilet service - and, of course, jamming out to the music. ...
SOIL Talks Trash (Magic)
Daniel Tillias & Dr. Sasha Kramer with SOIL's compost
SOIL’s Executive Director Dr. Sasha Kramer and SOIL Board Co-Chair Daniel Tillias were recently featured on the Trash Magic podcast where they discussed ecological sanitation, recycling human waste into nutrient-rich compost, and empowering local economies in urban Haiti. The podcast, hosted by chemical engineer Oakley Jennings-Fast and waste and recycling expert Sara Fuentes, aims to demystify the circular economy and encourage listeners to ‘change the world one purchase and one piece of trash at a time.’�...
