Saving Lives

Adventures abound here on the 'stead.  So do things that keep our hearts full, and minds racing and our hands busy.

Last March, my husband joined forces with a group from the United Methodist Convention connected with an organization called Sonje Ayiti that was designing and building a set of composting toilets.  He jumped in with  two feet and helped in the design process as well as the physically going to Haiti and helping to build the structure.  The long term plan is to build these composting toilets/ public bathhouses throughout the country.  Pictured is the pilot phase... and it's going very well.

You see, since the earthquake in 2010, Haiti has been ravaged by cholera, a sickness so severe it can kill a healthy child in less than a day.  People wash, dump waste and drink from the same water source... the only source available.  And so the epidemic continues. 

When the people have a specified location to dump waste and people at that location knows how to safely handle it, the spread of disease can be stopped.

So now, this previously built facility is in full operation, generating a good, safe agricultural amendment to fertilize various crops and further feed the community.  But continued contamination cannot be risked.  As volunteer for Sonje Ayiti, my husband has researched and compiled laboratory equipment so that samples of the finished product can be tested for safety before it is applied to food crops.  The lab equipment alone is expensive, despite the substantial discounts IDEXX gave Sonje Ayiti.  The equipment is currently set up at the City of Deland's Wastewater treatment facility so Randy can familiarize himself with it and calibrate it. 

In November, Randy will travel to Haiti to establish this critical lab at a local university.  He will then provide training for Haitians so that they are independent in its continued use.  It will be a wonderful educational tool while it's saving countless lives and forever altering the future of Haiti and her children.

Would you consider partnering with us to see this come to fruition?  Giving is easy through GoFundMe.  Just click here to make a donation of any amount.  GoFundMe does not allow funds from other sources to be recorded so we will be decreasing the goal amount of $9,000 to reflect other giving.  We are currently about halfway to that goal. 

Thank you for caring for Haiti's children!