BonZeb, Inc.
Good Afternoon.
As the academic school years wraps up our team of engineers from the U of Portland are preparing for graduation on May 1st. But before they move on they will present their findings from their work with BonZeb to the Shiley School of Engineering and also present us with fabication plans for the kiln, which will allow us to build the kilns in Haiti, thus creating more jobs. Their presentation will be held of the Unversity on Friday, April 15th.
Our new team of 6 students is already in place and they are undertaking a redesign of the original kiln in hopes of making more effiecient and also enable us to shorten the processing cycle, which will increase production and lower the cost further to the end user.
We are also excited about our H.E.A.R. (Haitian Eductional Aid and Resources) program and the strides it is making in offering continuing education to Haitains. H.E.A.R. is happy to announce another full tuition scholarship has been awarded to Marie-Michelle, a young Haitian teacher who will be starting her M.A. in Teaching at Concordia University in Portland in the Fall. She comes from a poor family in the Port au Prince area of Haiti and hopes to be able to open a school for under-privileged children when she returns home. There is one more scholarship awaiting approval at this time for the MBA program. James, will hopefully start in January of 2017. These scholarships cover tuition only, so we are trying to raise the "fill the gap" fees for room and board, insurance, etc.
On the farm in Haiti we are greatful that the rainy season is back and the land is getting the needed water. The fields are coming alive and the growth is very good according to our agronomist James and Fanfan.
As always your generous donations are needed for the continued growth and support of these efforts. Share our story with friends, coworkers and family. The more people who know, the better.
Thank you again for what you have done in the past. We look forward to sharing more in the future.
Tom
Good Morning.
A lot has happened in the past few weeks with our project.
The New Year kicked off with a trip to our property in Thomonde with a group of engineering students and their faculty advisor from the University of Portland. Once the group gathered at JFK in New York we flew into Port au Prince and proceeded to Thomonde, where we spent a night at the Medishare Guest House. We then toured the three fields of grass we planted in October and early November in Boucantis. The grass is doing well in the first two fields, but is struggling in the last field planted, due to lack of rain at the end of the season. We then began discussions on how to best irrigate the land during the dry season. RIght now the watering is being done by hand and with 200,000 plants it is a big job for the team.
After this we ventured to Hinche and the Emmaus Guesthouse. We toured the farm where we purchase our starts and toured a well irrigated crop and saw the difference in growth and number of harvests available when there is water.
The engineers took this to heart and thought that another team of civil and electrical engineers could help solve the riddle and come up with a plan of action.
These meetings were followed by the visit to two three acre parcels not far from our office in Benico. We have been offered both plots for the future home of our factory. Each has its own merits and we will continue to negotiate price over the coming months.
The trip then moved on to Port au Prince where we met with a couple potential fabicators who could help us build our kilns, pressers and mixers in Haiti, creating even more jobs.
All in all a very productive trip. The highlight for me was listening to a few of our 91 employees tell me their stories. One young man was excited to relate that now that he has a job he is able to pay for school for his three sisters and a brother. Another man who thanked me for the work that has allowed him to have his wife see a doctor for the first time in many years. This is the reason for our work, to give a hand up to the people of Haiti, and it is working. But we are not there yet.
Upon their return to the University the students shared their new insights and a second team has stepped forward to continue work on the second generation kiln that will decrease the time it takes to process the grass and interest in having civil engineers help design the factory site and plan for irrigation resevoirs is in the works.
Our next planting is due for April at the start of the new rainy season and we will be hiring additional staff to clear, cultivate and plant 75 acres. That will take $50,000 in payroll, and you can help with that through your proven generosity.
Thank you for all you have and continue to do and for your continued prayers and support.
