By Christine Simek | Acting Development Director
Despite the ongoing political, social & health-related challenges that have made significant impacts on our staff and our customers over the past several years, there are also great achievements to celebrate, particularly among the members of our team in Haiti, who, despite the considerable hardships, continue to work tirelessly and together and have not lost hope. We are deeply grateful for each and every one.
One of the advantages of SOIL’s long-time work and deep roots in Haiti is that it enables us to respond quickly to a crisis, allowing us to provide critical and immediate support to families in and around Cap-Haitien when the need arises. Late last month, a doctor from a clinic in Limonade visited the EkoLakay offices to inform us of a concerning outbreak of diarrheal disease that had taken hold in his community. Knowing that we provide sanitation services there already, he asked if there was any way we could intervene to increase the number of households with access to the service to curb its spread. Our staff members sprang into action, understanding that our EkoLakay sanitation service is a critical part of mitigating many kinds of waterborne diseases.
During the holiday break, when the SOIL office is generally closed, the SOIL sales team went door to door with community health agents in Bord Mer Limonade, sharing information about disease mitigation, promoting good hygiene practices, and offering reduced pricing for EkoLakay toilets. We were pleased to learn from our conversations with members of the households we visited that there is strong interest in having a toilet, and an understanding that it's one of the best ways to slow the spread of disease and, due to high demand, we have since installed 54 toilets in the neighborhood! We will follow up with other interested families in the coming weeks and remain in contact with the clinic as they continue to monitor the situation.
SOIL was founded in the spirit of working side-by-side with Haitian citizens and within communities to build ecological sanitation solutions that could be community-led. That principle idea of community-driven impact continues to guide our work every day and has also provided a valuable framework for how we respond during emergency events that impact Haiti. The political instability and economic distress in Haiti will not immediately right itself and we recognize that daily life for most Haitians will remain full of adversity and uncertainty for the foreseeable future. But, as we have since our founding 17 years ago, SOIL will continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti.
By Christine Simek | Development and Communications Specialist
By Christine Simek | Development and Communications Specialist
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