My first week with SOIL has been tiring and exciting. It started with the weekly staff meeting, which was followed by visits to Shadda(a slum of Cap-Haitien), where we have several public toilets in use. Later it was back to the office to meet with our Stanford University partners. We will be installing 150 household Ecosan toilets in Shadda, starting Tuesday. This is part of a three month pilot project. At the end of this period the maintenance,management and removal of the materials will be transferred to 9 local organizations. During the pilot we will monitor usage, cover material efficacy and health conditions in the area.
On Thursday, I met with the local OXFAM director who has asked me to help write a proposal for a project to address acute malnutrition in the North.
Schools were closed Thursday and Friday in preparation for “Sandy”. Fortunately for us in the north, there were no major damages.
I am currently in Port-au-Prince at our SOIL office to pick up some supplies.
Will be heading to Limbe tomorrow to help with post SANDY cleanup at the center. We lost several trees in the backyard and we will also be rebuilding the raised beds. On Tuesday, I will wear two hats and represent both HHN and SOIL at a meeting with the Mayor, MINUSTAH(UN), OXFAM and other organizations, as we plan to celebrate Int’l children’s day (10/20) in Limbe, on November 17th.
November 17th is an historical date for Limbe. On that date in 1791, a group of slaves met at Bois-Caiman a crossroads of Limbe, and marched on to Cap-Haitien, thereby begin the fight for our independence. The final victory for independence was fought on November 18th in Vertieres in 1803.
In Unity,
Rosedanie
