First of all we have all been in very good health and very much enjoying our meals over at the Matthew 25 house, where each day we meet another set of foreigners in town for different purposes, mostly either missionaries or medics. And I personally have become very fond of this little corner of the world where I walk between the Coalition house, the SOIL house, and Matthew 25, greeting folks with my limited Kreyol and being very warmly received by each stranger-turned-friendly-acquaintance.
Our first day of filming took us out to Cite Soleil, a part of Port au Prince mostly known for its intense impoverishment and constant rumours of violence and gangs. Our film's host, Daniel Tillias, works in Cite Soleil with the kids doing empowerment programs, and out where SOIL has their toilets, by the soccer field, has erected several beautiful "billboards" with words of encouragement by various world leaders such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and others.
Daniel is new to being on camera but you will soon see that he is an absolute natural!!! For our segment in Cite Soleil he shows us the toilets and how well they are being maintained -- in fact -- believe it or not, these public toilets actually SMELL GOOD. It's a far cry from any port-a-pottie I've ever been in that's for sure. And the toilets have become a gathering place for the local community, where kids come daily to do their homework, hang out, and watch the soccer matches.
Just beyond the soccer field and the toilets is one of SOIL's compost sites, where we were able to capture the daily dumping of barrels from the toilets. SOIL's agronomist, Jean Marie, supervises the process, where each barrel is dumped and then covered with sugarcane bagasse, which immediately neutralizes the smell and begins the process of heating the wastes and transforming them into a vital resource. Then, on a weekly basis Jean Marie tests the temperature of the compost, counts the barrels, and ensures that the process is occurring properly.
Then by contrast, yesterday, for our second day of shooting, we witnessed the other manner in which wastes are being managed in this city: they are sucked out of public latrines and spewed out onto a huge pit at the dump about 200 meters from the Bay of Port au Prince, combined with medical wastes and garbage, and left to seep into the ground and the bay to devolve into another form of public health disaster.
SOIL ROCKS!!!!!!
(www.oursoil.org)
(www.oursoil.org)
Today we are going to have a more mellow day of shooting, going out to get some audio footage of the amazing church choirs which constantly float through the air at all times of day, and then to do a little tour of the surrounding areas to get some establishing shots of Port au Prince and the general region.
Last night we had a thunderstorm (my favorite kind of weather when I have a warm, safe place to hide out from it....which 1.5 million people in this town do NOT)....and today it is a beautiful over-cast morning with a breeze!!!
More to come......
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