SOIL has its sixth, last and most fruitful EcoSan Training of 2011!

On Thursday, November 10th, twenty-four enthusiastic individuals representing local, national and international organizations came together in Port-au-Prince to learn ecological sanitation principles and best practices in a day-long training lead by SOIL staff.

This year SOIL began a series of training sessions to introduce other NGOs and individuals to ecological sanitation technology whereby human waste is collected and composted for use in agriculture and reforestation efforts across Haiti. The response was overwhelming with nearly every session at or above capacity. SOIL’s commitment to the people of Haiti is decidedly inclusive and we are proud to have offered sessions in both English and Haitian Kreyòl.

Jean Marie Noel, SOIL's Agronomist, gives an introduction to composting.

Each session starts with an introduction to SOIL, Haiti and EcoSan lead by Dr. Sasha Kramer, SOIL’s Executive Director and Co-founder. The day progresses with information on EcoSan toilet construction and maintenance, EcoSan sensitization, i.e. toilet “software”, followed by information on composting and using compost in agriculture and reforestation projects.

Thursday’s training was the sixth this year and in total SOIL has trained over 125 individuals from over 50 organizations including large international organizations such as Oxfam Great Britain, Concern Worldwide, Mercy Corps, World Vision, Care and Red Cross organizations including Britain, America, France, Spain, Haiti, Austria and the IFRC, and small but wonderful organizations like Silent Grace Foundation (Puerto Rico), Give Love (Port-au-Prince) and Haiti Village Health (Cap-Haitien, Haiti).

A conference attendee demonstrates the "11 Steps" for using a dry toilet.

Along with these EcoSan trainings, in February of this year SOIL published the first edition of The SOIL Guide to Ecological Sanitation in English and Haitian Kreyòl. Our partners at Silent Grace are translating the Guide into Spanish to increase the reach of our educational opportunities.

SOIL receives emails every day from individuals and organizations working in Haiti and abroad looking to us for technical support and advice on the social aspects of EcoSan implementation. And enthusiasm at yesterday’s event was higher than ever before. Every one of the attendees contributed and the feedback was stellar. We are proud to be the leader in ecological sanitation and ecological sanitation education in Haiti!