Here it is December already and the world seems to be spinning at a rapid pace, as per usual......
Most of us are preparing for the end of the year in some way, reflecting back, looking forward, preparing for the holidays, watching our pocket books, putting on sweaters, roasting vegetables, and generally carrying on as if things are going to stay the same forever!
But most people can see that there are too many unprecedented unnatural disasters happening in different parts of the world in pretty much every season of every year for the past too many years to really ignore the changes happening on Planet Earth.
The Paris Climate summit currently happening is just the tip of the melting ice-burg, and many people are feeling complete overwhelm and exhaustion, topped off with a heavy dose of powerlessness, when it comes to saving our earth from the brink of disaster.
None of us really knows what to expect here.
But we do know that more and more and bigger and bigger natural disasters are happening, and with that means wide-scale disaster relief.
I recently had the distinct honor of interviewing one of the world's pioneers when it comes to rapid response disaster relief. Stanford Ecologist Sasha Kramer was working in northern Haiti at the time of the 2010 earthquake in Port au Prince.
At that time, the organization she co-founded to install and manage composting toilets in urban and rural Haiti was 6 years in, she spoke fluent Haitian Kreyol, and was very well known and well-loved throughout Cap Haitien (the second largest city in Haiti). She was working with a small team in Cap Haitien and in the surrounding towns with her organization SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livlihoods) and its partner Haitian-led organization, SOL (Sosyete Organize pou Lanati), when the earthquake struck.
What ensued after soon became international news, as relief organizations poured in to respond to the wide-scale loss. Sasha and her team responded by jumping in a truck and driving straight to Port au Prince the following day, to be of service and to assess the needs, as well as to find friends who hopefully had survived the quake itself.
Very soon thereafter SOIL was granted an opportunity to install composting toilets at several IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) camps. As far as anyone knew at the time, this type of sanitation had never been done in an emergency response environment, but SOIL and SOL took a chance, scaled up their organizations, and went into over-drive training, building, hiring, installing, managing, hauling, storing, and transforming literally tons of safe, organic fertilizer on a weekly basis all throughout the city, while simultaneously rendering powerless one of the world's most ruthless killers: water-borne disease. (Can you say, "cholera"? Since the earthquake of 2010 nearly 9,000 number of people have died from this disease in Haiti.....)
Sanitation is not something most people want to talk about on a regular basis.
But the moment a natural disaster takes away one's ability to defecate in a safe, dignified manner, all of that changes. What would happen to MY ability to "go to the bathroom" if suddenly there was no water flowing to my house?
It's all well and good for Sasha and her organization to be setting up these systems "over there in Haiti". But I live in the Bay Area. I don't want to have to think about where I'm going to go to the bathroom!
We are constantly being told to "look out for the big one", "it's not a matter of if, but when", and "the plates are moving", etc.
I interviewed Sasha as the first of several interviews my team and I are conducting for our next project, a web series called "Waste(d)", which is exploring the possibilities of navigating away from flush toilets in the Industrialized nations, in favor of more sustainable practices such as, you guessed it, composting toilets.
In our interview Dr. Kramer suggested that, with all the infrastructure already in place for flushing toilets throughout residential and commercial buildings here in the "first world", it does not make any sense, and would be far too expensive to modify sanitation systems under normal circumstances.
However, as a contingency plan in the event of natural disaster, it makes a whole lot of sense to have a Plan B system in place for when and if our homes are suddenly without the capacity to flush our toilets.
There are many different ways to process and transform human waste, but the reality is, it actually holds nutrients and minerals which, when processed correctly, can be re-infused into our soils and gardens to energize agriculture.
When the big one comes, wouldn't it be nice to know there was a safe place to "go" which would not cause any further health hazards and could actually provide our gardens with healthy organic fertilizer?
Stay tuned.....
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
California Water Policy Challenge
It is a crystal clear morning here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the air is cool. I can see San Francisco lit up by morning sun from my porch in Richmond, an outer suburb about 15 miles from downtown SF.
But for a brief moment in time before getting out of bed, around 6:45am, with my curtains closed and the air cool, I thought I might have heard some sprinkles outside.
Me and my cat both looked up at the same time with an inquisitive expression -- why, that is a sound we haven't heard for some time!
But alas, it was only the sound of birds crunching across dried leaves.......
I have noticed that there are fewer birds in my yard than this time last year. Then they were busy, fluttering about and hustling for the winter. Now......I barely see or hear them.
The drought is in full swing here in California, the trees digging deep, deep underground to find any remaining moisture. The mid-range critters such as raccoons, opossums, coyotes -- where are they getting their water?
I have been leaving bowls of it in my yard for the raccoons and opossum that come around. I have seen them lapping it up...
The state is also going to great lengths, digging deep, trying to respond to immediate areas of crisis: there are many towns in the central valley who literally have no water coming out of their faucets.
Just think about that for one second: there is no water coming out of your faucet.
This is the reality for many people, right now, living here in California.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/20/east-porterville-california-drought-bottled-water-showers-toilets
That's why my team and I are submitting an application to the California Water Policy Challenge.
We think the state would do well to reconsider its use of flush toilets, and implement a wide-spread change in policy around sanitation.
We recognize that in order to do this, it will require a paradigm shift about what waste is, and how to manage it. We realize folks think of dry, composting toilets as a great idea for those "poor people in the developing world", and not something "we do here in the civilized world".
But we are interested in changing that thinking by creating interest in and strategies for alternative ways to dispose of and manage our waste.
In Bristol, England they are transforming it into methane gas and fueling public transportation with it. In Port au Prince and throughout Haiti they are transforming their waste into rich, organic fertilizer (hello www.holycrapthefilm.com)
We are excited to be a part of creating a * global movement * to eliminate the need to waste our precious water for flushing down our waste.
Do you think the California Water Policy Challenge will go for it?
Stay tuned....
But for a brief moment in time before getting out of bed, around 6:45am, with my curtains closed and the air cool, I thought I might have heard some sprinkles outside.
Me and my cat both looked up at the same time with an inquisitive expression -- why, that is a sound we haven't heard for some time!
But alas, it was only the sound of birds crunching across dried leaves.......
I have noticed that there are fewer birds in my yard than this time last year. Then they were busy, fluttering about and hustling for the winter. Now......I barely see or hear them.
The drought is in full swing here in California, the trees digging deep, deep underground to find any remaining moisture. The mid-range critters such as raccoons, opossums, coyotes -- where are they getting their water?
I have been leaving bowls of it in my yard for the raccoons and opossum that come around. I have seen them lapping it up...
The state is also going to great lengths, digging deep, trying to respond to immediate areas of crisis: there are many towns in the central valley who literally have no water coming out of their faucets.
Just think about that for one second: there is no water coming out of your faucet.
This is the reality for many people, right now, living here in California.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/20/east-porterville-california-drought-bottled-water-showers-toilets
That's why my team and I are submitting an application to the California Water Policy Challenge.
We think the state would do well to reconsider its use of flush toilets, and implement a wide-spread change in policy around sanitation.
We recognize that in order to do this, it will require a paradigm shift about what waste is, and how to manage it. We realize folks think of dry, composting toilets as a great idea for those "poor people in the developing world", and not something "we do here in the civilized world".
But we are interested in changing that thinking by creating interest in and strategies for alternative ways to dispose of and manage our waste.
In Bristol, England they are transforming it into methane gas and fueling public transportation with it. In Port au Prince and throughout Haiti they are transforming their waste into rich, organic fertilizer (hello www.holycrapthefilm.com)
We are excited to be a part of creating a * global movement * to eliminate the need to waste our precious water for flushing down our waste.
Do you think the California Water Policy Challenge will go for it?
Stay tuned....
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Flush toilets are a thing of the past when you look at the future
The governor of California has recently declared a state-wide emergency as a result of a drought which has resulted in the driest winter in the state's recorded history. Governor Brown is asking folks to reduce consumption by 20%, and it occurs to me that we really ought to consider minimizing or even banning the use of the flush toilet.
It's so out-moded anyway!
When you think about it, flush toilets are the ultimate in over-consumption, as normal toilets use nearly 5 gallons for every flush.
Most of us here in the U.S. grew up in homes with flush toilets, everyone has flush toilets; they seem like the norm. And they certainly are the norm if you live in one of the few remaining and so-called "first-world" countries such as the United States or in the European Union.
But when you look at the rest of the world, where more than 1 billion people live without access to proper sanitation, a flush toilet is most definitely a privilege few enjoy.
In various countries in Africa, in Haiti, in Peru, in many places throughout the world, dry toilets, i.e., toilets which require no water to flush them, are being used more and more. These dry toilets, which use a process known as ecological sanitation, ("eco-san"), have thus come to be thought of as toilets for poor people. Toilets for the impoverished.
But I would like to suggest otherwise.
I would like to suggest that the state of California would do well to examine the work of SOIL in Haiti (www.oursoil.org), where for the past decade this well-loved Haitian-staffed organization has been collecting human waste and following it all the way through the transformational cycle to fertilize gardens and stimulate agricultural yield, economic growth, all while eliminating the cause of wide-spread water-borne disease.
Why can something like this not be done here? There is no reason. Currently our sanitation system is very-well designed to allow for the waste to leave our bodies and depart our homes within a matter of seconds, traveling through tunnels and pipelines few care to consider when driving over streets, highways, and parking lots.....
What if we are wasting our water and our waste, every time we flush? What if that substance is actually a resource we would do well to harvest? (With proper scientific systems obviously....)
I would like to propose that one of the best ways to reduce water usage throughout the state of California would be to install eco-san toilets throughout all public spaces, thereby saving water; creating jobs; creating chemical-free organic fertilizer; and minimizing the impact of the drought for all Californians.
If folks begin to see and use these toilets in shopping malls, outdoor concerts, in our state parks, they will begin to realize that it is actually a far more pleasurable experience to use a toilet of this nature, particularly if you compare it to a typical out-house. There are no flies. There is no smell. And it creates a no-waste cycle which energizes the economy, creates jobs, reduces dependence on chemical fertilizers, and could potentially save the state of California millions of gallons of water every single hour.
www.holycrapthefilm.com
Until such time as eco-san is the norm world-wide, I've taken to flushing only solid wastes at my home. Liquid wastes don't require a flush! I just put the paper in a garbage bin, and keep the lid closed....
It's so out-moded anyway!
When you think about it, flush toilets are the ultimate in over-consumption, as normal toilets use nearly 5 gallons for every flush.
Most of us here in the U.S. grew up in homes with flush toilets, everyone has flush toilets; they seem like the norm. And they certainly are the norm if you live in one of the few remaining and so-called "first-world" countries such as the United States or in the European Union.
But when you look at the rest of the world, where more than 1 billion people live without access to proper sanitation, a flush toilet is most definitely a privilege few enjoy.
In various countries in Africa, in Haiti, in Peru, in many places throughout the world, dry toilets, i.e., toilets which require no water to flush them, are being used more and more. These dry toilets, which use a process known as ecological sanitation, ("eco-san"), have thus come to be thought of as toilets for poor people. Toilets for the impoverished.
But I would like to suggest otherwise.
I would like to suggest that the state of California would do well to examine the work of SOIL in Haiti (www.oursoil.org), where for the past decade this well-loved Haitian-staffed organization has been collecting human waste and following it all the way through the transformational cycle to fertilize gardens and stimulate agricultural yield, economic growth, all while eliminating the cause of wide-spread water-borne disease.
Why can something like this not be done here? There is no reason. Currently our sanitation system is very-well designed to allow for the waste to leave our bodies and depart our homes within a matter of seconds, traveling through tunnels and pipelines few care to consider when driving over streets, highways, and parking lots.....
What if we are wasting our water and our waste, every time we flush? What if that substance is actually a resource we would do well to harvest? (With proper scientific systems obviously....)
I would like to propose that one of the best ways to reduce water usage throughout the state of California would be to install eco-san toilets throughout all public spaces, thereby saving water; creating jobs; creating chemical-free organic fertilizer; and minimizing the impact of the drought for all Californians.
If folks begin to see and use these toilets in shopping malls, outdoor concerts, in our state parks, they will begin to realize that it is actually a far more pleasurable experience to use a toilet of this nature, particularly if you compare it to a typical out-house. There are no flies. There is no smell. And it creates a no-waste cycle which energizes the economy, creates jobs, reduces dependence on chemical fertilizers, and could potentially save the state of California millions of gallons of water every single hour.
www.holycrapthefilm.com
Until such time as eco-san is the norm world-wide, I've taken to flushing only solid wastes at my home. Liquid wastes don't require a flush! I just put the paper in a garbage bin, and keep the lid closed....
Monday, October 28, 2013
UCLoo Festival
Next month Holy Crap! the film will be shown at the University College of London's Loo festival as part of their initiative to spark creative solutions to the global sanitation crisis.
We are thrilled to have been asked to participate in this wonderful event, and look forward to seeing the results of their Make-a-thon contest!!!
This contest is such a wonderful response to the global sanitation crisis.
In London alone, more than 400 million litres of drinking water are flushed down the toilet every day!! Just imagine how much water is wasted on a daily basis throughout all of the developing world. What if flush toilets were to become a thing of the past?
What if water-borne disease were to become a thing of the past? What if the waste itself were to become a vital resource, critical to agricultural development and economic independence from foreign aid?
We can't wait to see what the makers of the Make-a-thon come up with, and will keep you posted as the project unfolds.
Until then, make sure to give thanks for the clean water with which you wash your hands, the warm water with which you bathe your face, and the place you dispose of your personal waste. Ain't it grand not to have to think about it?
Learn more about the Make-a-thon here: http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ucloo-festival-2013/
We are thrilled to have been asked to participate in this wonderful event, and look forward to seeing the results of their Make-a-thon contest!!!
This contest is such a wonderful response to the global sanitation crisis.
In London alone, more than 400 million litres of drinking water are flushed down the toilet every day!! Just imagine how much water is wasted on a daily basis throughout all of the developing world. What if flush toilets were to become a thing of the past?
What if water-borne disease were to become a thing of the past? What if the waste itself were to become a vital resource, critical to agricultural development and economic independence from foreign aid?
We can't wait to see what the makers of the Make-a-thon come up with, and will keep you posted as the project unfolds.
Until then, make sure to give thanks for the clean water with which you wash your hands, the warm water with which you bathe your face, and the place you dispose of your personal waste. Ain't it grand not to have to think about it?
Learn more about the Make-a-thon here: http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ucloo-festival-2013/
Thursday, April 25, 2013
It's really a Global Movement now
Recently I was contacted by a totally cool organization called, "Toilet Hackers".
They're based in New York City and have a mission of ending the global sanitation
crisis.
*Ending* the global sanitation crisis.
This is so inspiring I can't stand it. They have put together a team of people who are
moving heaven and earth to make it happen and beginning a revolution for like-minded
people to organize around this mission.
So exciting!!!
Cassandra (Jabola - my amazing co-producer) and I decided last week that it's time to
put the feelers out looking for collaborators to take our project to the next level both in
story-telling and production value.
We really believe this story deserves to be told and told well so if any of you readers
know of anyone who knows of anyone - filmmakers, funders, organizations or earth-and-
justice lovers - who might be interested in supporting this project through to the end,
please let me know.
We are gathering and grouping and beginning the next phase of fund-raising.....
Because come on. SERIOUSLY!!! Everyone deserves a safe place to put their body-
by-products. Why not put those by-products to work restoring soil fertility and
agricultural yield and abating disease and starvation??
Let's do this.
They're based in New York City and have a mission of ending the global sanitation
crisis.
*Ending* the global sanitation crisis.
This is so inspiring I can't stand it. They have put together a team of people who are
moving heaven and earth to make it happen and beginning a revolution for like-minded
people to organize around this mission.
So exciting!!!
Cassandra (Jabola - my amazing co-producer) and I decided last week that it's time to
put the feelers out looking for collaborators to take our project to the next level both in
story-telling and production value.
We really believe this story deserves to be told and told well so if any of you readers
know of anyone who knows of anyone - filmmakers, funders, organizations or earth-and-
justice lovers - who might be interested in supporting this project through to the end,
please let me know.
We are gathering and grouping and beginning the next phase of fund-raising.....
Because come on. SERIOUSLY!!! Everyone deserves a safe place to put their body-
by-products. Why not put those by-products to work restoring soil fertility and
agricultural yield and abating disease and starvation??
Let's do this.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Semi-finalists!!
I forgot to announce to everyone that our film was named a Semifinalist in the Focus Forward film festival!!!
This is a huge honor as we made the top 96 out of thousands of submissions from all around the world. We could not be more thrilled and tomorrow, November 28, they will announce the top 20 films in the competition.
The judges have been reviewing and viewing and reviewing all the films and so we know that our film has been scrutinized and evaluated and are anxious to find out whether we will be moving into the final rounds of the competition, where the top 5 films will be given huge cash prizes and announced at no less than Sundance Film Festival.
Have you had a chance to vote for our film? Audience voting is a completely separate category from the judge and the jury, but the 10 films which receive the most votes will be featured on the Focus Forward website and continue to receive such great exposure!!
You can vote for our film here:
http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51888594
If you are so compelled, please encourage your friends and family to vote for the film as well!! And please don't hesitate to check out other films in the competition. There are some absolutely breath-taking ideas being presented in these 96 films. I am truly humbled to be among them.....
My love,
Jenny JUP
This is a huge honor as we made the top 96 out of thousands of submissions from all around the world. We could not be more thrilled and tomorrow, November 28, they will announce the top 20 films in the competition.
The judges have been reviewing and viewing and reviewing all the films and so we know that our film has been scrutinized and evaluated and are anxious to find out whether we will be moving into the final rounds of the competition, where the top 5 films will be given huge cash prizes and announced at no less than Sundance Film Festival.
Have you had a chance to vote for our film? Audience voting is a completely separate category from the judge and the jury, but the 10 films which receive the most votes will be featured on the Focus Forward website and continue to receive such great exposure!!
You can vote for our film here:
http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51888594
If you are so compelled, please encourage your friends and family to vote for the film as well!! And please don't hesitate to check out other films in the competition. There are some absolutely breath-taking ideas being presented in these 96 films. I am truly humbled to be among them.....
My love,
Jenny JUP
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Holy Crap! happenings
Greetings one and all on the eighth of November, 2012 and the first update on the Holy Crap! film project in over a year!!
I am very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the year and a half since the 5-minute version of the film was released. We created that version specifically for the Possible Futures Film Festival, and while we were disappointed when our project did not win an award, we learned a lot and were excited to be included among all the amazing films.
But then, to our complete surprise, within a few weeks the film was broadcast on National Geographic on-line! This was a great boon for the project and at the same time the film was accepted into two Film Festivals, the Tall-grass International Film Festival, and the Our-Stage Superstars on-line festival, where the film was named a finalist.
The next boon to the project was when, over the summer, a wonderful editor and filmmaker named Jessica Jones contacted me to inquire about the film and we decided to work together to seek ways to develop it. We got started looking for grants, and in the end submitted a proposal to the Chicken and Egg Grant, a fund that supports women filmmakers who are passionate about story-telling, social justice and environmental and human rights. We feel that this project is very well-qualified for the Chicken and Egg grant and are awaiting the announcement of winners on Wednesday, November 28. Here’s hoping!!
Soon after we submitted this grant another amazing woman, Cassandra Jabola, got in touch with me, as she had heard I was wanting to develop my film. Cassandra brings a lot of experience in the area of distribution, development, and documentary narrative through her years working with National Geographic as an Associate Producer. We could not be more thrilled to have her on-board.
The three of us set about to develop our first project together, and targeted making a submission to the Focus Forward on-line festival. This is a contest that seeks 3-minute films about a wide-variety of topics from filmmakers around the world. It is a very large festival with thousands of entries, and we were skeptical that our film would be noticed, as they already have a film about composting toilets!! (“Toilet Man”).
But we felt that we really have a different angle on the topic, and decided to take the 5-minute piece that I made with editors Xuan Vu and Barbara Kadri last year, and see what we could do to make it into a stronger, shorter piece.
The 3-minute restriction worked really well for the material that we had to work with, as we already had a pretty strong piece, and just shifted our focus, changed a few of the clips, and drove home the point that I’ve been wanting to make with this film ever since I first conceptualized it over 5 year’s ago: could POOP be the answer to a lot of the world’s problems??
Unbelievable. But poop is having a very positive impact throughout Haiti with SOIL (www.oursoil.org) and other organizations that are implementing safe techniques for transforming this substance into a very important material: fertilizer.
We want to tell their story and we want to tell the story of how other organizations are using this same substance in other parts of the world to reclaim a sustainable future for various communities. And we want to begin an investigation into how we here in the U.S. could also benefit from water-less toilets. Perhaps eco-san could become a global movement......
To our delight and surprise, in late October we were notified that the newly-revised version of Holy Crap! had made the first cut in the Focus Forward contest and was named a semi-finalist, bringing us one step closer to the possibility of being the recipient of the contest’s top prize, a $100,000 cash award.
The Focus Forward contest is set to go live on Wednesday November 14, so stay tuned, as there will be two components to the festival: audience voting, and judge and jury voting. The audience voting will be an opportunity for the film to be seen by a large audience, and we are so excited to get the feedback, input, and exposure from this!!
In addition, the judges will be announcing the Finalists for the festival on Wednesday, November 28, and the top 5 winners will all be announced and awarded large cash prizes ($200,000 total!!) at none other than Sundance Film Festival!!
I can’t wait to show you the new and improved version of the film, and I can’t wait to see all the other films that made it to the Semi-finalist category!! From what it looks like, they are going to blow my mind!!
So please stay tuned for upcoming updates to the project, and in the meantime, give thanks for the hidden infrastructure that can so easily be taken for granted....until the moment a hurricane wipes it out.....and we have to figure out what to do with all this sh*t.....
Friday, October 14, 2011
.....it's a global movement!
Dear friends,
I am thrilled to tell you about some new developments with the Holy Crap! film project. To summarize, the film has recently been refurbished and touched up and we are so thrilled with this new shiny version!!!! Secondly, the new shinier version has just been accepted into its very first film festival!! Thirdly, we will be developing a Kreyol-version of this film hopefully by the end of this year, for release within Haiti....and finally!! I am developing a series of short films by the same name which will explore some of the many different projects around the world which are transforming human waste to become a viable, cheap, accessible and proven component of the search for sustainability.
So Holy Crap! is about to take off! (kinda like a global movement.....)
:)
To see the upgrades to the film click here: www.holycrapthefilm.com
To learn more about all our exciting new developments, read on....
Firstly, thanks to a generous donation offered by Daniel Drasin to do some touch-ups to the film, we are releasing a new, shinier version, available now on our website. We added a little intro to the film which I think really ties it together well, and otherwise Dan (with lots of great input from Tamara Gurbis, the film's Director of Photography; thank you Tamara!!) did a lot of color corrections and audio refinements that I, as a budding filmmaker, didn't know how to appreciate until after the fact. And having run out of money long before the final edits took place, I couldn't really afford to get the full post-production we needed prior to the film's release. So please let us know if you like the modifications and the new intro to the film - I'm thrilled with it!!! And thank you so much to Daniel Drasin for all his many years of experience, his incredible patience in bringing me up to speed and into the digital world, and for believing in this project so much to invest his time into making this film shine. Major kudos to you my friend.....
Secondly, we are thrilled to announce that Holy Crap! has been accepted into our first, full-fledged international film festival!!! The Tallgrass Film Festival, located in Wichita, KS, will be screening Holy Crap! in their short film category among many other films. As this is my hometown I must say I am quite thrilled about it. www.tallgrassfilmfest.com
Thirdly, we are beginning to fundraise for the next and final edit at this time with the footage from our trip to Haiti last year -- a Kreyol-version of the film for release within Haiti. This is something that we are making to be a versatile tool for SOIL to use in schools, communities, for staff members and families and to just explain the concept of ecological sanitation, how it works, and why it is 1000x better than the "system" now in place throughout Haiti, which has resulted in wide-spread public health epidemics. If any of you have the energy or interest in helping with these fundraising efforts please do not hesitate to contact me at: jenniferbenorden@gmail.com
And FINALLY! the Holy Crap! project is beginning to grow in scope, as we are in the process of developing a series by the same name. This series will be a number of similar, short films which feature the work of other organizations and townships around the world that are transforming human waste into a viable resource.
Here are some of the things we are considering featuring in our series:
Cars (called "Bio Bugs") running on methane gas created from raw sewage in Bristol, England. What else is happening with methane gas in other parts of the world? Are other people trying this out?
One part of the series will feature and check on the progress of some of the more portable inventions that are coming to the fore, such as "PeePoo" bags which are safely biodegradable and the Gardiner CH4 - which is like a portable rolling suitcase but is actually a composting toilet!
Next will be a two-part installation that will investigate how ecological sanitation would impact communities within the United States. I want to query local governments about regulations to this type of off-the-grid infrastructure, and follow a citizen through the process of creating one in their yard or on their property. How would this type of sanitation impact facilities like hospitals, universities, and municipalities?
Emergency relief -- I'd like to follow-up on SOIL's lead of providing ecological sanitation directly following the earthquake of Port-au-Prince, 2010, show how their project is developing and also see what is happening in places like Japan following the tsunami there, and the floods in Pakistan -- what impact have these disasters had on sanitation? Is anyone doing ecological sanitation in these areas? I want to find out!
There are many more exciting ecological sanitation projects happening around the world and I would like to keep a pulse on it, as I do believe that it is the only and obvious choice for sustainable sanitation in a time when water resources are limited, human beings are losing their lives because of poor sanitation, and billions of men, women and children are suffering from water-borne illness.
If you have any interest in helping me to develop this series, please do not hesitate to contact me at jenniferbenorden@gmail.com.
Finally, Holy Crap! is thrilled that we are still being featured on the National Geographic's website! Check us out there and don't forget to keep in touch with SOIL at www.oursoil.org.
So many of you have been staunch supporters of my work with this film and of SOIL's work in Haiti and I can't thank you enough for all the ways you believe in me and in this project. I could never have done it without you.
Wishing you all a lovely autumn,
Jenny
Producer/Director, Holy Crap!
www.holycrapthefilm.com
I am thrilled to tell you about some new developments with the Holy Crap! film project. To summarize, the film has recently been refurbished and touched up and we are so thrilled with this new shiny version!!!! Secondly, the new shinier version has just been accepted into its very first film festival!! Thirdly, we will be developing a Kreyol-version of this film hopefully by the end of this year, for release within Haiti....and finally!! I am developing a series of short films by the same name which will explore some of the many different projects around the world which are transforming human waste to become a viable, cheap, accessible and proven component of the search for sustainability.
So Holy Crap! is about to take off! (kinda like a global movement.....)
:)
To see the upgrades to the film click here: www.holycrapthefilm.com
To learn more about all our exciting new developments, read on....
Firstly, thanks to a generous donation offered by Daniel Drasin to do some touch-ups to the film, we are releasing a new, shinier version, available now on our website. We added a little intro to the film which I think really ties it together well, and otherwise Dan (with lots of great input from Tamara Gurbis, the film's Director of Photography; thank you Tamara!!) did a lot of color corrections and audio refinements that I, as a budding filmmaker, didn't know how to appreciate until after the fact. And having run out of money long before the final edits took place, I couldn't really afford to get the full post-production we needed prior to the film's release. So please let us know if you like the modifications and the new intro to the film - I'm thrilled with it!!! And thank you so much to Daniel Drasin for all his many years of experience, his incredible patience in bringing me up to speed and into the digital world, and for believing in this project so much to invest his time into making this film shine. Major kudos to you my friend.....
Secondly, we are thrilled to announce that Holy Crap! has been accepted into our first, full-fledged international film festival!!! The Tallgrass Film Festival, located in Wichita, KS, will be screening Holy Crap! in their short film category among many other films. As this is my hometown I must say I am quite thrilled about it. www.tallgrassfilmfest.com
Thirdly, we are beginning to fundraise for the next and final edit at this time with the footage from our trip to Haiti last year -- a Kreyol-version of the film for release within Haiti. This is something that we are making to be a versatile tool for SOIL to use in schools, communities, for staff members and families and to just explain the concept of ecological sanitation, how it works, and why it is 1000x better than the "system" now in place throughout Haiti, which has resulted in wide-spread public health epidemics. If any of you have the energy or interest in helping with these fundraising efforts please do not hesitate to contact me at: jenniferbenorden@gmail.com
And FINALLY! the Holy Crap! project is beginning to grow in scope, as we are in the process of developing a series by the same name. This series will be a number of similar, short films which feature the work of other organizations and townships around the world that are transforming human waste into a viable resource.
Here are some of the things we are considering featuring in our series:
Cars (called "Bio Bugs") running on methane gas created from raw sewage in Bristol, England. What else is happening with methane gas in other parts of the world? Are other people trying this out?
One part of the series will feature and check on the progress of some of the more portable inventions that are coming to the fore, such as "PeePoo" bags which are safely biodegradable and the Gardiner CH4 - which is like a portable rolling suitcase but is actually a composting toilet!
Next will be a two-part installation that will investigate how ecological sanitation would impact communities within the United States. I want to query local governments about regulations to this type of off-the-grid infrastructure, and follow a citizen through the process of creating one in their yard or on their property. How would this type of sanitation impact facilities like hospitals, universities, and municipalities?
Olympic Forest Park, Beijing, China -- in 2007 China incorporated ecological sanitation (such as SOIL uses in Haiti) into their giant national park. We want to go there and see how the project has progressed since then.
There are many more exciting ecological sanitation projects happening around the world and I would like to keep a pulse on it, as I do believe that it is the only and obvious choice for sustainable sanitation in a time when water resources are limited, human beings are losing their lives because of poor sanitation, and billions of men, women and children are suffering from water-borne illness.
If you have any interest in helping me to develop this series, please do not hesitate to contact me at jenniferbenorden@gmail.com.
Finally, Holy Crap! is thrilled that we are still being featured on the National Geographic's website! Check us out there and don't forget to keep in touch with SOIL at www.oursoil.org.
So many of you have been staunch supporters of my work with this film and of SOIL's work in Haiti and I can't thank you enough for all the ways you believe in me and in this project. I could never have done it without you.
Wishing you all a lovely autumn,
Jenny
Producer/Director, Holy Crap!
www.holycrapthefilm.com
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Holy Crap! I'm posting a new blog post! :)
Dear friends,
I am thrilled to let you know that we finished the Holy Crap! film (short version) and submitted it last month to the Possible Futures Film Contest -- a wonderful on-line festival hosted by the Pachamama Alliance. This festival has 317 films, all dealing with the subject of "possible futures" for a positive turn of events on Planet Earth.
But I have been so remiss in posting to my blog that now we have just 2 days left to collect votes in the festival!! Can you spare a few minutes to go to the below link to watch our film, register, and vote?? Every vote counts!!
http://possiblefuturesfilmcontest.org/watch-vote/film-detail/?film_id=25433496
There are some really great films in the contest and so competition is stiff. We need all the votes we can get in order to be a contender for one of the two prizes determined by voting.
Can you take a moment to watch our 5 minute film and cast a vote in our favor??
And in the meantime I promise to get back into making blog posts and keep you posted as the film moves through the festival circuit over the next few months. Do you know of a good place we should submit it? Do you have any extra time to research on-line festivals or short-documentary film festivals at this time?
Please let me know.
Mesi Anpil pou tout bagay.....
Jenny
I am thrilled to let you know that we finished the Holy Crap! film (short version) and submitted it last month to the Possible Futures Film Contest -- a wonderful on-line festival hosted by the Pachamama Alliance. This festival has 317 films, all dealing with the subject of "possible futures" for a positive turn of events on Planet Earth.
But I have been so remiss in posting to my blog that now we have just 2 days left to collect votes in the festival!! Can you spare a few minutes to go to the below link to watch our film, register, and vote?? Every vote counts!!
http://possiblefuturesfilmcontest.org/watch-vote/film-detail/?film_id=25433496
There are some really great films in the contest and so competition is stiff. We need all the votes we can get in order to be a contender for one of the two prizes determined by voting.
Can you take a moment to watch our 5 minute film and cast a vote in our favor??
And in the meantime I promise to get back into making blog posts and keep you posted as the film moves through the festival circuit over the next few months. Do you know of a good place we should submit it? Do you have any extra time to research on-line festivals or short-documentary film festivals at this time?
Please let me know.
Mesi Anpil pou tout bagay.....
Jenny
Monday, May 16, 2011
the composting process
Dear followers of the Holy Crap! film project, interested parties, curious ones and smellers of good ideas, today I write to you with a true update as to how this project is progressing.
From start to finish this has been one of the most incredible learning curves of my life! I have felt so many times like I am way out to sea in a vast ocean of footage, choices, perspectives, and options for how to obtain and present this material to you in a meaningful, compelling, engaging, smart way that brings positive and plentiful attention to the work of SOIL (www.oursoil.org), who pointed the funds in my direction so that I might do just that.
So far with the help of 3 crew members volunteering a great deal of their time, a couple of primary consultants (also donating their time), a 10-day film-shoot in Haiti, over 20-hours of footage with 3 different audio tracks and roughly 2,000 still photographs to choose from and with the help of 2 different editors, we have made 3 versions with about 20 different micro-variations to narrow down the best way to work with the material that we have.
In this process I have consulted with many people, relied heavily on people far more experienced than I, floundered, f*ed up, and forced myself to keep going because I am thrilled to be the one who gets to tell the story of SOIL to the world and hopefully, it will be heard.
It's such a great story!
And it is making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of people in Port au Prince and Cap Haitien, Haiti, as well as in many other places around the world. I am hoping to get to tell this story further beyond SOIL's work in Haiti, to the methane-gas used to run vehicles in Bristol, England -- to the eco-san projects happening throughout Africa, to Asia, and wherever else it's happening, because I think that is one of the most remarkable things in the whole world right now, that we can transform our own human waste into a valuable -- even - an INvaluable -- resource.
WILD! and INCREDIBLE.
So I am launching a Kickstarter campaign and gearing up to submit a piece to the Possible Futures Film Festival, deadline June 21.
Some people think the Holy Crap! title is too crass. Some people think it is hilarious and awesome. Some people think it is slightly offensive. Some people say it should be used in a more subtle way.
To me, it is the perfect irony and I am choosing to stay with it. I'm sure over time we will continue tweaking the way it is used, how we present it graphically, and how to make it accessible to a wider and wider audience.
In the meantime, hold tight because our next one-minute promo version is coming your way I promise, very very soon.
Check out our website (still in development) at:
www.holycrapthefilm.com
E mesi anpil anpil pou tout bagay nou ap fe pou late' la
(and thank you so much for everything YOU're doing for the world)
Jenny JUP Benorden
Producer, Director, and Chief Composter for "Holy Crap!" -- the film
From start to finish this has been one of the most incredible learning curves of my life! I have felt so many times like I am way out to sea in a vast ocean of footage, choices, perspectives, and options for how to obtain and present this material to you in a meaningful, compelling, engaging, smart way that brings positive and plentiful attention to the work of SOIL (www.oursoil.org), who pointed the funds in my direction so that I might do just that.
So far with the help of 3 crew members volunteering a great deal of their time, a couple of primary consultants (also donating their time), a 10-day film-shoot in Haiti, over 20-hours of footage with 3 different audio tracks and roughly 2,000 still photographs to choose from and with the help of 2 different editors, we have made 3 versions with about 20 different micro-variations to narrow down the best way to work with the material that we have.
In this process I have consulted with many people, relied heavily on people far more experienced than I, floundered, f*ed up, and forced myself to keep going because I am thrilled to be the one who gets to tell the story of SOIL to the world and hopefully, it will be heard.
It's such a great story!
And it is making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of people in Port au Prince and Cap Haitien, Haiti, as well as in many other places around the world. I am hoping to get to tell this story further beyond SOIL's work in Haiti, to the methane-gas used to run vehicles in Bristol, England -- to the eco-san projects happening throughout Africa, to Asia, and wherever else it's happening, because I think that is one of the most remarkable things in the whole world right now, that we can transform our own human waste into a valuable -- even - an INvaluable -- resource.
WILD! and INCREDIBLE.
So I am launching a Kickstarter campaign and gearing up to submit a piece to the Possible Futures Film Festival, deadline June 21.
Some people think the Holy Crap! title is too crass. Some people think it is hilarious and awesome. Some people think it is slightly offensive. Some people say it should be used in a more subtle way.
To me, it is the perfect irony and I am choosing to stay with it. I'm sure over time we will continue tweaking the way it is used, how we present it graphically, and how to make it accessible to a wider and wider audience.
In the meantime, hold tight because our next one-minute promo version is coming your way I promise, very very soon.
Check out our website (still in development) at:
www.holycrapthefilm.com
E mesi anpil anpil pou tout bagay nou ap fe pou late' la
(and thank you so much for everything YOU're doing for the world)
Jenny JUP Benorden
Producer, Director, and Chief Composter for "Holy Crap!" -- the film
Sunday, March 27, 2011
the hunger games: a book review and film update
I recently read a young-adult novel entitled, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. This fast-paced novel is the first in a trilogy and is set hundreds of years into the post-apocalyptic future when America has turned into an entirely different land called, "Panem".
In Panem, most of the citizens struggle daily for survival and live at the mercy of "the Capitol", the central governing body whose residents have access to riches, opulence, and luxury, not to mention more than enough to eat. To keep the citizens in line, every year the Capitol produces a live-broadcast of a brutal contest where 24 young people are randomly selected from throughout Panem to kill each other until only one is left standing.
It is an intense premise but one which is not really all that far from current reality. Collins apparently got the idea for the book while watching a reality series on television, and flipping through the channels where she saw news coverage of the war on Iraq......
Every single day, all across this planet, millions of people are struggling to surivive. Their food supplies are compromised by policies of globalization, the natural resources of their land raped by foreign interests, and their governments in bed with these same foreign interests, their hands tied behind their backs while their faces smile in business suits on international television.
In Haiti, a country of roughly 8.5 million people, millions struggle to survive. Many children do not make it beyond the age of 5, their bellies distended, their hair turned red from malnutrition.
Is it a televised contest to the death?
Not exactly.........but it is happening in full view and most people in the developing world prefer to flip that channel right back to a contrived "reality" show rather than watch for even a few minutes the reality of life for the majority of humans on this planet that we share.
However, there are those who are giving their time, their education, their training, and their hearts to live among the starving and to initiate sustainable programs to recover the dignity, economic solvency, and food sovereignty for these populations.
SOIL (www.oursoil.org), its co-founder Dr. Sasha Kramer, and her staff in Haiti are among this honorable few and it is my privilege and honor to tell their story with the Holy Crap! film.
Currently I am re-configuring the trailer for the film and will be able to show it to you very very soon. In the meantime I am developing the longer film and am desperate for an intern to support this process. If any of you know of someone who might be available/interested to support me in releasing this film, please contact me asap at jenniferbenorden@gmail.com.
And in the meantime, give thanks for the food that you eat, give thanks for the ground beneath your feet, for the fresh air you are able to breathe, for the clean water you can drink, and for the heart-work of organizations like SOIL around the world.......
In Panem, most of the citizens struggle daily for survival and live at the mercy of "the Capitol", the central governing body whose residents have access to riches, opulence, and luxury, not to mention more than enough to eat. To keep the citizens in line, every year the Capitol produces a live-broadcast of a brutal contest where 24 young people are randomly selected from throughout Panem to kill each other until only one is left standing.
It is an intense premise but one which is not really all that far from current reality. Collins apparently got the idea for the book while watching a reality series on television, and flipping through the channels where she saw news coverage of the war on Iraq......
Every single day, all across this planet, millions of people are struggling to surivive. Their food supplies are compromised by policies of globalization, the natural resources of their land raped by foreign interests, and their governments in bed with these same foreign interests, their hands tied behind their backs while their faces smile in business suits on international television.
In Haiti, a country of roughly 8.5 million people, millions struggle to survive. Many children do not make it beyond the age of 5, their bellies distended, their hair turned red from malnutrition.
Is it a televised contest to the death?
Not exactly.........but it is happening in full view and most people in the developing world prefer to flip that channel right back to a contrived "reality" show rather than watch for even a few minutes the reality of life for the majority of humans on this planet that we share.
However, there are those who are giving their time, their education, their training, and their hearts to live among the starving and to initiate sustainable programs to recover the dignity, economic solvency, and food sovereignty for these populations.
SOIL (www.oursoil.org), its co-founder Dr. Sasha Kramer, and her staff in Haiti are among this honorable few and it is my privilege and honor to tell their story with the Holy Crap! film.
Currently I am re-configuring the trailer for the film and will be able to show it to you very very soon. In the meantime I am developing the longer film and am desperate for an intern to support this process. If any of you know of someone who might be available/interested to support me in releasing this film, please contact me asap at jenniferbenorden@gmail.com.
And in the meantime, give thanks for the food that you eat, give thanks for the ground beneath your feet, for the fresh air you are able to breathe, for the clean water you can drink, and for the heart-work of organizations like SOIL around the world.......
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
state of the human
*this post has nothing to do with my film exactly.....*it is me venting and ranting about politics so be fore-warned*
Obama is doing his annual State of the Union address right now and all around the world, he has the attention. He is so eloquent, so stunningly intelligent, warm, friendly, and poised. Compared to his predecessor I feel like I can actually listen to him, like he has considered his words and that they will be unusually inspiring and triumphant! (And yet, oddly vague....)
I have to be honest though - I never make it a point to listen to this annual speech. I just can't handle the bullshit, if you'll pardon my French. Republican, Democrat, whatever. How can anyone stand up there and represent a nation with such dirty hands and yet come off looking so clean?
It is a surreal how the stage is set, the flag and the podium, the perfect suit, the lighting....
Do I seem bitter?
I am.
It's because of the U.S.'s role in Haiti.
What business is it of ours?
We should be asking.
And if President Obama doesn't address this issue tonight, which I very much doubt he will, I have absolutely no interest in hearing a word he says.
That is how I feel about it.
P.J. Crowley from the U.S. State Department said on the matter of Baby Doc Duvalier returning to Haiti that "this is a matter for the government of Haiti" and when asked about Jean Bertrande Aristide returning he said, "Haiti doesn't need any more burdens".
The U.S. is blocking Aristide's rightful return to Haiti. They are the ones who twice removed him after he was twice elected by an overwhelming majority of Haitian people in free, independent elections, and the U.S. now holds the key for his return.
But just do a simple search on Baby Doc Duvalier (who has been back on Haitian SOIL for over a week now after 25 years in exile -) and it will be very apparent that human life means absolutely nothing to the United States of America if they have anything to do with this man's return to Haiti.
I mean come on, it is really that simple. And I am not in the mood to mince words. Here's a nation so racked by trauma from sheer bad luck (natural disasters), combined with hundreds of years of slavery followed by over 200 years of economic slavery which leads us to today where millions of people quite literally struggle to survive.
For politics?
Because somebody makes more money that way?
Duvalier is known to have embezzled millions and millions of dollars from the Haitian government. Why would the U.S. back this?
He is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Haitian people.
Why would the U.S. back this?
Oh - that's right - because we're all about freedom!
And democracy!
That's why........
And I'm sure President Barack Obama is right now just wrapping up the year in statistics, all the ways good, hard-working Americans are taking the economy back, blah blah blah.......
I can't take it anymore. I don't know what to do about it, but I'll start by publishing this blog post, and I'll finish this post by leaving you with two quotes from Jean-Bertrand Aristide's book, Eyes of the Heart, which I highly recommend:
"We have not reached the consensus that to eat is a basic human right. This is an ethical crisis. This is a crisis of faith."
— Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization)
— Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization)
"Pa gen lape nan tet, si pa gen lape nan vant (there is no peace in the head if there is no peace in the stomach)."
— Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization)
— Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
haiti: a love story and a public prayer
all year long i have held you so close to my heart, rocked to my core by the depth of your endurance, of your loss. i have prayed for you daily, sung for you, seen for you, with my third eye, what i also see for myself: access to education, health-care, housing, clean water, sanitation, jobs, and a safe and loving community. oh great spirit that moves in all things!!!! may it be so for haiti and for all humans........ayi bobo!
here we are moving into year number 2 since the catastrophic event of january 12, 2010 occurred. we all know the numbers, know the money hasn't been given, know it's only getting worse.
the question i am asking myself is: what will it take to effect real positive change in Haiti? what is it going to take?
i'm going to take a stab at a strategy and visualize. i invite your input but please be kind because it's only a game: u.s. out of haiti to start with. why do we need to be meddling in someone else's democracy? we say we're going around the world to "restore democracy" - then why in god's name are we taking out democratically elected presidents and banishing them from the country which elected them?
jobs - rebuilding haiti!!!! oh it's so beautiful, all the buildings that will be built, giving haitian carpenters and masons a chance to show off their skills.
ecological sanitation - this one is my personal favorite of course, but think about it - a rebuilt haiti where instead of installing complicated plumbing systems throughout the cities or in the villages, wasting more water which then needs to be treated, and costing lots of money to maintain, there are dry, composting toilets in people's homes, in local schools, churches, at soccer fields and all throughout the country where the wastes are collected and properly treated by trained agronomists until it is safe to be used as fertilizer, and gardens are sprouting up everywhere to feed people and provide more jobs!
cultural revival - haiti begins to shine again more for its cultural richness than for its impoverished condition, and people begin traveling to there to study and learn and to be entertained by the wealth of creative talent, culture, and charm.
for me, it's a matter of principal. in my thinking, human life is valuable. i value human life. and i also value the power of the human mind to affect change. the more i think about it, the more it begins to happen. the more i see my life unfolding before me with a full heart resonating with joy and vibrance, the more i experience joy and vibrance........
and so i ask you all to take a moment now at the end of my little facebook note to think about your vision for haiti, how you see it unfolding, and if you want to you can share your vision with us so we can fill up our hearts with it and energize a group mind of healing for haiti, and for us all who share the very cells of human trauma in our own blood (once again transmitted through the mind and because we are all of this earth, made of star-dust, spinning through space on a single orb very, very quickly)....
(and as for my love story with haiti, i had to post-pone my trip, so will be returning the last week of january for just a few days to get just a little bit more footage for the film. ayiti m' sonje ou e nou we tale'....nou pa bliye ou!!!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Access: Using the Bathroom
Every animal, of every species, is making poop, *every single day*, everywhere on this planet.
I mean to tell you there is poop happening all. the. time.
If you are alive, and you are an animal, you will be -- making sh*t happen!!!!!
hahahahaha
Birdies just let theirs fly. Whoop, off ya' go! No matter where it lands.....
Kitties bury theirs meticulously. Doggies make a big scene and do it right out in public. Cows leave 'em in big patties on the ground. Babies....well babies fill up their diapers indiscriminately according to everything that has passed through them -- just like all other animals (but with fancier diapers).
In the U.S. where I live, for us humans once you're weaned from a diaper, most people start to use the toilet. It's great! You just sit down on it or stand next to it to do your business, and when you're finished you just flush a handle and - swoosh -- it washes away! Ne'er to be seen again.....
Pretty convenient when you think about it -- the only time I ever have to deal with my "stuff" (unless I'm camping or traveling) -- is when my toilet backs up!! (Get out the plunger and hope for the best, right?! Gross!!) I mean, I pay my utility bills, but I don't really think about what it means -- what I'm paying for, ya know?
Can you imagine what it would be like if we couldn't do that??
If you couldn't flush your stuff?
Can you imagine moving into an apartment or house anywhere in the U.S (that is up to code!) that doesn't have a bathroom - ?? As any carpenter or architect will tell you, our modern houses and indeed - our cities and towns are completely built around massive and brilliantly hidden plumbing, electrical wiring, gas lines, and what is known as "infrastructure".
I know this isn't exactly NEWS.....but I point it out as a way to demonstrate how easy it is for those of us in the modern world to forget about it! It is actually a privelege millions -- indeed -- billions of humans who share this planet with us do not have.
Imagine! Not being able to "use the bathroom" - anywhere!
Where would you go?! What would you do?
It has to happen -- otherwise quite honestly you will die of toxic poisoning.
I think it's fair then that we could call this a "basic necessity" for human existence. So it's hard to understand why so many people (2.5 billion or HALF the population of the world - Unicef.org) have no access to this and other such actual necessities, such as clean water, food, and shelter. (As opposed to a box set of "Lost".....).
The thing is, the health hazards which begin to multiply within days of losing one's access to basic sanitation are deadly, particularly if you don't have access to clean water with which to clean your hands either.....and it's hard to know where to place the blame, who to go to for help, what to do.
And yet -- there is a simple way to intervene in the above process!
Instead of leaching into the ground water and infecting people trying to live their lives, instead of expensive collection techniques that transport the wastes from public latrines to open pits of raw sewage further compromising public health in the region (can you say "cholera"?), instead of leaving people with the indignity of having to figure out what to do with their own "stuff" --
This film tells the story of a very simple solution to the above recipe for disaster, where human wastes are managed and recycled in such a way as to actually create healthy fertilizers.
HOLY CRAP!
SOIL is a non-profit organization working in Haiti since 2006 that is implementing a technique known as "Ecological Sanitation" (EcoSan). SOIL and its partner Haitian organization SOL have built over 200 dry, composting toilets in displacement camps in Port au Prince in the past year, hired 300 Haitian staff to collect the "poop barrels" and deposit them at compost sites throughout the city, where they are mixed with sugarcane bagasse and monitored closely according to the staff agronomist.
Soon SOIL will begin a process of selling the wastes and actually stimulating the local economy!
All with a simple, ecological, sustainable, clean, urine-diverting toilet.
Stay tuned.....
I mean to tell you there is poop happening all. the. time.
If you are alive, and you are an animal, you will be -- making sh*t happen!!!!!
hahahahaha
Birdies just let theirs fly. Whoop, off ya' go! No matter where it lands.....
Kitties bury theirs meticulously. Doggies make a big scene and do it right out in public. Cows leave 'em in big patties on the ground. Babies....well babies fill up their diapers indiscriminately according to everything that has passed through them -- just like all other animals (but with fancier diapers).
In the U.S. where I live, for us humans once you're weaned from a diaper, most people start to use the toilet. It's great! You just sit down on it or stand next to it to do your business, and when you're finished you just flush a handle and - swoosh -- it washes away! Ne'er to be seen again.....
Pretty convenient when you think about it -- the only time I ever have to deal with my "stuff" (unless I'm camping or traveling) -- is when my toilet backs up!! (Get out the plunger and hope for the best, right?! Gross!!) I mean, I pay my utility bills, but I don't really think about what it means -- what I'm paying for, ya know?
Can you imagine what it would be like if we couldn't do that??
If you couldn't flush your stuff?
Can you imagine moving into an apartment or house anywhere in the U.S (that is up to code!) that doesn't have a bathroom - ?? As any carpenter or architect will tell you, our modern houses and indeed - our cities and towns are completely built around massive and brilliantly hidden plumbing, electrical wiring, gas lines, and what is known as "infrastructure".
I know this isn't exactly NEWS.....but I point it out as a way to demonstrate how easy it is for those of us in the modern world to forget about it! It is actually a privelege millions -- indeed -- billions of humans who share this planet with us do not have.
Imagine! Not being able to "use the bathroom" - anywhere!
Where would you go?! What would you do?
It has to happen -- otherwise quite honestly you will die of toxic poisoning.
I think it's fair then that we could call this a "basic necessity" for human existence. So it's hard to understand why so many people (2.5 billion or HALF the population of the world - Unicef.org) have no access to this and other such actual necessities, such as clean water, food, and shelter. (As opposed to a box set of "Lost".....).
The thing is, the health hazards which begin to multiply within days of losing one's access to basic sanitation are deadly, particularly if you don't have access to clean water with which to clean your hands either.....and it's hard to know where to place the blame, who to go to for help, what to do.
And yet -- there is a simple way to intervene in the above process!
Instead of leaching into the ground water and infecting people trying to live their lives, instead of expensive collection techniques that transport the wastes from public latrines to open pits of raw sewage further compromising public health in the region (can you say "cholera"?), instead of leaving people with the indignity of having to figure out what to do with their own "stuff" --
This film tells the story of a very simple solution to the above recipe for disaster, where human wastes are managed and recycled in such a way as to actually create healthy fertilizers.
HOLY CRAP!
SOIL is a non-profit organization working in Haiti since 2006 that is implementing a technique known as "Ecological Sanitation" (EcoSan). SOIL and its partner Haitian organization SOL have built over 200 dry, composting toilets in displacement camps in Port au Prince in the past year, hired 300 Haitian staff to collect the "poop barrels" and deposit them at compost sites throughout the city, where they are mixed with sugarcane bagasse and monitored closely according to the staff agronomist.
Soon SOIL will begin a process of selling the wastes and actually stimulating the local economy!
All with a simple, ecological, sustainable, clean, urine-diverting toilet.
Stay tuned.....
Saturday, December 18, 2010
home is where the heart is
(journal entry, 11/4/10)
3 days back and i'm finally remembering my name. "what i do" combining with "how i do it" and i step back into the routines of my life, while the thick rocky streets of port au prince linger in my mind, the tires sorting it out with the unmade roads....
i hear the sounds, smell the smells, feel the heat, see the faces....and yet i am here in my living room with the small lamp shining sparkles onto my drum-kit, my heater turned on, socks on my feet, and a huge, warm, clean bed waiting for me to climb into.
port au prince, the home of african kings and queens, the land of lions and dragons, the schools and the wagons, grace mixed with passion, and a great deal of fashion, style worn in attitudes, displayed with fortitude, traffic exhaust pot-holes gas-fumes, heads held high with huge smiles wide, generators roosters water trucks church choirs........
ayiti chere
(film update: working on it! got some graphics comin up, a website happening, first meeting with my editor tomorrow night.......stay tuned!!)
3 days back and i'm finally remembering my name. "what i do" combining with "how i do it" and i step back into the routines of my life, while the thick rocky streets of port au prince linger in my mind, the tires sorting it out with the unmade roads....
i hear the sounds, smell the smells, feel the heat, see the faces....and yet i am here in my living room with the small lamp shining sparkles onto my drum-kit, my heater turned on, socks on my feet, and a huge, warm, clean bed waiting for me to climb into.
port au prince, the home of african kings and queens, the land of lions and dragons, the schools and the wagons, grace mixed with passion, and a great deal of fashion, style worn in attitudes, displayed with fortitude, traffic exhaust pot-holes gas-fumes, heads held high with huge smiles wide, generators roosters water trucks church choirs........
ayiti chere
(film update: working on it! got some graphics comin up, a website happening, first meeting with my editor tomorrow night.......stay tuned!!)
Friday, November 19, 2010
right now; a rant in verse
Right now
I rest on my couch
with my cat
a solid day having been spent
in my house, the rain
light-showering the trees out
side and the drive.
The drive rests in styrofoam sleeves
in a box
full of footage I can't see, captured
images of people, before the outbreak
turned, before the shots were fired before
when I was there, only a month ago.
Haiti.
What do I know about it?
I've only been there 3 times. A foreigner.
ANOTHER.
foreigner with a cause, a camera, and a computer.....
We all mean well! Don't get me wrong.
But some times, I do wonder, seeing the t-
shirts matching with "save haiti" plastered
in easy font a pastel flag of hope and pig-
tails flying behind at the gas station,
(where we had lunch, a cafe of international
proportions on the way to Trutier, a shrine
to bad planning and the Port au Prince city
dump), whether this trip, this "mission"
you might say, with the matching t's and the
morning prayer meetings.
I don't know what I want to say about it except.
Something.
Just by the nature of traveling to Haiti people think
I'm going there to "help".
I honestly feel like I get more help from the Haitian
people I meet than I bring with my camera my limited Kreyol
and my good intentions! It's SOIL who is really doing
the work on the ground in Haiti; I'm so lucky
I get to tell their story!
See that's the thing. Here I've had a gentle day,
idyllic really, so mellow with my desk all cleared
off and my closet, magically organized and my film
still trapped on the drive. But when I think
of the people who don't have homes, the people
here in Oakland, the people in San Francisco, Palo
Alto, Port au Prince, New York City, Belize, Jamaica,
Ghana, India, Afghanistan, France. How does anyone do it?
Living under a tarp?
Sleeping on a side
walk? Under a blanket with toes
sticking out or in a tent, babies lined up
no kitchen, no bathroom, no closet no job.
I have recently traveled to Haiti and so yes, I can say that the level
of poverty in Haiti is distinct than here in the U.S. or other places
I have traveled but poverty. Poverty is no relative concept for millions
of people who cohabitate this planet. Poverty goes far beyond
the number of dollars in one's bank account just the same way wealth
does.
What you don't have doesn't determine your existence -- your value --
any more than what you do!
Nonetheless, certain things have been determined as basic.
Human rights.
Basic.
Rights.
Human.
And that is where I cannot
be silent. And that is where I do
raise my voice.
Ten years ago! Ten years ago the U.S. blocked
aid for clean water solutions for Haiti.
The year: 2000. Ten years of water purifications in Haiti
would have really been a major impact!
But now. Now we have a cholera epidemic brewing,
we have people. People living under these tarps, people
whose plight beckoned billions of dollars in aid from around
the whole world. Eleven months ago.
Eleven months and still the aid - MOST OF THE AID - has
not been distributed.
I know it seems like one can't really do anything about it sitting
here in our homes all cozy after dinner and preparing for a night
of sleep (most of us on beds with sheets and everything!) but I don't
understand how to deal with my anger about this situation.
It's not right. People should not be dying of cholera. Just as people
should not be dying of starvation either - or violence through war or
civil unrest.....
I recognize that I'm speaking in very broad terms.
I am speaking in my own terms, and that is another hidden
privilege that comes from being white, american, middle class
and relatively well-educated....
My friends, I do give thanks for my computer,
my cause, my camera, and the cash I was given
to make this film.
May it shed new light on a complicated situation;
may it bring forward the unnecessary nature of
much injustice: simple solutions, cash-flow, and
sustainable jobs for Haitians are already being
staffed!!
Holy crap!! (Toilets never smelled so good......)
Hope for Haiti is hope for all humanity!!!
Bless you for reading my food for thought, and may you have a Thanksgiving full of gratitude, good food, and positive vibrations.....
I rest on my couch
with my cat
a solid day having been spent
in my house, the rain
light-showering the trees out
side and the drive.
The drive rests in styrofoam sleeves
in a box
full of footage I can't see, captured
images of people, before the outbreak
turned, before the shots were fired before
when I was there, only a month ago.
Haiti.
What do I know about it?
I've only been there 3 times. A foreigner.
ANOTHER.
foreigner with a cause, a camera, and a computer.....
We all mean well! Don't get me wrong.
But some times, I do wonder, seeing the t-
shirts matching with "save haiti" plastered
in easy font a pastel flag of hope and pig-
tails flying behind at the gas station,
(where we had lunch, a cafe of international
proportions on the way to Trutier, a shrine
to bad planning and the Port au Prince city
dump), whether this trip, this "mission"
you might say, with the matching t's and the
morning prayer meetings.
I don't know what I want to say about it except.
Something.
Just by the nature of traveling to Haiti people think
I'm going there to "help".
I honestly feel like I get more help from the Haitian
people I meet than I bring with my camera my limited Kreyol
and my good intentions! It's SOIL who is really doing
the work on the ground in Haiti; I'm so lucky
I get to tell their story!
See that's the thing. Here I've had a gentle day,
idyllic really, so mellow with my desk all cleared
off and my closet, magically organized and my film
still trapped on the drive. But when I think
of the people who don't have homes, the people
here in Oakland, the people in San Francisco, Palo
Alto, Port au Prince, New York City, Belize, Jamaica,
Ghana, India, Afghanistan, France. How does anyone do it?
Living under a tarp?
Sleeping on a side
walk? Under a blanket with toes
sticking out or in a tent, babies lined up
no kitchen, no bathroom, no closet no job.
I have recently traveled to Haiti and so yes, I can say that the level
of poverty in Haiti is distinct than here in the U.S. or other places
I have traveled but poverty. Poverty is no relative concept for millions
of people who cohabitate this planet. Poverty goes far beyond
the number of dollars in one's bank account just the same way wealth
does.
What you don't have doesn't determine your existence -- your value --
any more than what you do!
Nonetheless, certain things have been determined as basic.
Human rights.
Basic.
Rights.
Human.
And that is where I cannot
be silent. And that is where I do
raise my voice.
Ten years ago! Ten years ago the U.S. blocked
aid for clean water solutions for Haiti.
The year: 2000. Ten years of water purifications in Haiti
would have really been a major impact!
But now. Now we have a cholera epidemic brewing,
we have people. People living under these tarps, people
whose plight beckoned billions of dollars in aid from around
the whole world. Eleven months ago.
Eleven months and still the aid - MOST OF THE AID - has
not been distributed.
I know it seems like one can't really do anything about it sitting
here in our homes all cozy after dinner and preparing for a night
of sleep (most of us on beds with sheets and everything!) but I don't
understand how to deal with my anger about this situation.
It's not right. People should not be dying of cholera. Just as people
should not be dying of starvation either - or violence through war or
civil unrest.....
I recognize that I'm speaking in very broad terms.
I am speaking in my own terms, and that is another hidden
privilege that comes from being white, american, middle class
and relatively well-educated....
My friends, I do give thanks for my computer,
my cause, my camera, and the cash I was given
to make this film.
May it shed new light on a complicated situation;
may it bring forward the unnecessary nature of
much injustice: simple solutions, cash-flow, and
sustainable jobs for Haitians are already being
staffed!!
Holy crap!! (Toilets never smelled so good......)
Hope for Haiti is hope for all humanity!!!
Bless you for reading my food for thought, and may you have a Thanksgiving full of gratitude, good food, and positive vibrations.....
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Hand-to-mouth
"Hand-to-mouth -- "barely enough food or money to satisfy immediate, basic needs"
This phrase occurred to me a couple of days ago as I was wrapping up filming and packing for a few days in Cap Haitien. The entire time I've been in Haiti I have been being extremely cautious about putting my hands to my mouth, and have been especially careful not to get water into my mouth when bathing. So far this trip has served as my first trip here without getting sick!!
But how do you love someone genuinely - in the way we love each other out in the streets, like a neighbor greeting you kindly as you walk by their mangoes neatly lined up on a fabric on the ground, and with an open heart, grateful to be in their country, graced by their culture, in awe of their kindness -- then walk away spritzing your hands with sanitizer.....?
Hand to mouth.......my hand embraces your hand......we stare into each others eyes for a moment with a great deal of joy and delight........and I walk away to a car and spray spritzer on my hands......
I find this part of traveling here to be extremely confronting. Hopefully, my Haitian brothers and sisters are spritzing their hands too. You never know what these foreigners are bringing into the country.....
But the phrase has taken on a whole new significance for much of Haiti, as this cholera outbreak threatens to move into epidemic status. It was discovered yesterday that the ground water of Port au Prince is contaminated with cholera (I do not have a reference for this, nor do I know if it refers to all of Port au Prince or only certain regions. But I did hear it from a reliable source.....)
How would you clean your hands before eating if the only water you had was contaminated water? What if the only water you have access to drink is contaminated water? Or how about this -- what if the tent where you live with your family is literally a few feet away from open raw sewage, contaminating the air you breathe let alone the ground beneath your feet?
One of my new friends in Haiti, Daniel, says Haiti is surrounded by angels, protecting and guarding it and its inhabitants. I am using all my psychic/spiritual/shamanic powers to view these angels guarding every hand, every mouth, every one who lives, eats, drinks, sleeps, and loves in Port au Prince.
Certainly SOIL is taking every precaution, going to 20,000 tents door to door to educate and inform people about how to avoid, recognize, and treat cholera. In addition they are implementing new safe practices for their staff, and I view their efforts as part of that powerful tribe of angels, protecting a peaceful people from yet another devastation......
One would think that the billions of dollars of aid that was promised to this tiny country might finally be released to ward off an epidemic. Would you consider contacting your representative to ask them why the aid promised by the U.S. government has not been released?
Houses for Haiti! Clean water for all humans! Adequate, sustainable sanitation in every home! No more hand-to-mouth, no more basic human rights lost to political agendas, no more lives lost due to de-valuing of the poor and displaced......
Hope for Haiti is hope for all of humanity --
This phrase occurred to me a couple of days ago as I was wrapping up filming and packing for a few days in Cap Haitien. The entire time I've been in Haiti I have been being extremely cautious about putting my hands to my mouth, and have been especially careful not to get water into my mouth when bathing. So far this trip has served as my first trip here without getting sick!!
But how do you love someone genuinely - in the way we love each other out in the streets, like a neighbor greeting you kindly as you walk by their mangoes neatly lined up on a fabric on the ground, and with an open heart, grateful to be in their country, graced by their culture, in awe of their kindness -- then walk away spritzing your hands with sanitizer.....?
Hand to mouth.......my hand embraces your hand......we stare into each others eyes for a moment with a great deal of joy and delight........and I walk away to a car and spray spritzer on my hands......
I find this part of traveling here to be extremely confronting. Hopefully, my Haitian brothers and sisters are spritzing their hands too. You never know what these foreigners are bringing into the country.....
But the phrase has taken on a whole new significance for much of Haiti, as this cholera outbreak threatens to move into epidemic status. It was discovered yesterday that the ground water of Port au Prince is contaminated with cholera (I do not have a reference for this, nor do I know if it refers to all of Port au Prince or only certain regions. But I did hear it from a reliable source.....)
How would you clean your hands before eating if the only water you had was contaminated water? What if the only water you have access to drink is contaminated water? Or how about this -- what if the tent where you live with your family is literally a few feet away from open raw sewage, contaminating the air you breathe let alone the ground beneath your feet?
One of my new friends in Haiti, Daniel, says Haiti is surrounded by angels, protecting and guarding it and its inhabitants. I am using all my psychic/spiritual/shamanic powers to view these angels guarding every hand, every mouth, every one who lives, eats, drinks, sleeps, and loves in Port au Prince.
Certainly SOIL is taking every precaution, going to 20,000 tents door to door to educate and inform people about how to avoid, recognize, and treat cholera. In addition they are implementing new safe practices for their staff, and I view their efforts as part of that powerful tribe of angels, protecting a peaceful people from yet another devastation......
One would think that the billions of dollars of aid that was promised to this tiny country might finally be released to ward off an epidemic. Would you consider contacting your representative to ask them why the aid promised by the U.S. government has not been released?
Houses for Haiti! Clean water for all humans! Adequate, sustainable sanitation in every home! No more hand-to-mouth, no more basic human rights lost to political agendas, no more lives lost due to de-valuing of the poor and displaced......
Hope for Haiti is hope for all of humanity --
Friday, October 22, 2010
port au prince
Like a prince he carries 30 lbs. of sugar cane wrapped in fabric and balanced perfectly on his head....Like a prince he cuts coconut deftly with a machete, leaving a perfect straw-hole and hands it to me with grace to receive a few coins......Like a princess she hands me a cold coke out of a strange refrigerator, sitting under a tarp in a camp for the displaced.......Like a prince he runs through the thick rocky streets on bare feet, his back perfectly straight while his baby belly bloats......Like a prince he comes to our door every morning dressed immaculately and wearing a smile. He waits patiently for us, he carries our gear, he answers all our questions, he smiles for the camera. He picks us up in his air-conditioned truck and guides us through his home town, telling the stories, listening to the mental commentary of our confused conscience......Like a princess she hides in the shadows, wordlessly gliding down the hallways with laundry on her mind and a sick child in a tent city..........
This is a city of complexities, internationals here to "help", gracious locals attempting to make sense of our presence, stumbling over 3 languages interwoven like vines on a brick wall. Everyone can see the disparities, the internationals safely housed in still-standing buildings, clean drinking water, 3 meals a day!
For me, it is the outrageous smiles of a dignified people that pull me deeper into this country, attempting to understand my role, attempting to be of service somehow, learning more about what i can handle, what I cannot......forgiving myself for my need for a constant fan to blow over me throughout the night, for my bug spray, for my well-digesting meals.......
Today we head back out to Cite Soleil, where we will be swarmed by children wanting to hold our hands, wanting us to take their pictures, wanting us to feed them, wanting us to give them anything even a glance a smile a dance......while their more seasoned parents sit on the side-lines feeling all the complexities that we do.......Day 8 of filming begins with a slight breeze and the sun beating its drums of Caribbean heat.......
More to come and with love from Port au Prince.......
This is a city of complexities, internationals here to "help", gracious locals attempting to make sense of our presence, stumbling over 3 languages interwoven like vines on a brick wall. Everyone can see the disparities, the internationals safely housed in still-standing buildings, clean drinking water, 3 meals a day!
For me, it is the outrageous smiles of a dignified people that pull me deeper into this country, attempting to understand my role, attempting to be of service somehow, learning more about what i can handle, what I cannot......forgiving myself for my need for a constant fan to blow over me throughout the night, for my bug spray, for my well-digesting meals.......
Today we head back out to Cite Soleil, where we will be swarmed by children wanting to hold our hands, wanting us to take their pictures, wanting us to feed them, wanting us to give them anything even a glance a smile a dance......while their more seasoned parents sit on the side-lines feeling all the complexities that we do.......Day 8 of filming begins with a slight breeze and the sun beating its drums of Caribbean heat.......
More to come and with love from Port au Prince.......
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Day 6
Well folks, things have been going amazingly well here in Port au Prince for me and my incredible crew.
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......
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
ayiti chere
My first day back in Haiti, and my immediate and overwhelming reaction: bliss. I love this place!!!! From the live acoustic folk music at the airport, to the chaos of finding my bags (all found in one piece), to driving down the dusty, rocky streets, I love this place.
First adventure of the trip: going to the Oxfam office with a goat. Here's what happened - Oxfam granted SOIL a huge contract to develop the compost sites (second contract this year) but for unknown reasons was slow to deliver the funds. Today, Sasha and Leah came up with the idea of going down to the Oxfam office to bribe our contact there to give us the funds -- with a goat -- just for fun.
One of the SOIL staff here at the house happens to have a sweet little goat, and was willing to let us borrow it for an hour to run our little mission. So we loaded up in the back of the truck, me, Sasha, Leah, and the goat, and headed through Delmas toward downtown and the Oxfam office, laughing and having a great time thinking of the upcoming surprise.
But one thing I've learned in my brief times in Haiti: nothing ever works out exactly as planned (isn't that true in most places?). In this case, the truck broke down on a very busy street, filled with school kids walking home from school (most schools just re-opened yesterday), many covering their heads with wash cloths, using umbrellas, or simply sweating from the humidity, and all of which were confounded to find two white women hanging out in the back of a truck with a goat (Sasha hopped on the back of a moto to go on down to the Oxfam office to sign the contract....).
After a few minutes of pondering, our driver went off to find a mechanic, and Leah and I sat inside the truck to get out of the sun, scheming up options for what to do now. Thankfully there was another truck available at the SOIL house, and Anthony agreed to come out in the middle of his busy work-day to assist us in our mission. After getting lost he did eventually scoop us and the goat up from the stranded vehicle, driving through stop and go traffic up and over Delmas toward Petitionville, where the Oxfam offices are.
The timing actually worked out perfectly, as we arrived at the offices just as Sasha was completing her meeting, and with the permission of the security guard we went through the gate with the goat. (Thankfully she pee'd and pooped right there on the door-steps -- before going inside -- good goat!)
It was a huge success as the entire office was laughing so loud to see a goat being paraded past their desks to the back of the office where our Oxfam officer was giggling and cracking up at our quasi-gift. We sang him happy birthday (since it is his birthday), and everyone clapped and cheered.
And the money has been delivered so it was a successful afternoon.
Prior to the goat mission, Sasha and I walked over to the yard behind Matthew 25, a house which became a central refuge for thousands of people after the earthquake, and where Sasha and Nick actually slept outside under the stars for months. Now it has been transformed into a "displacement camp", and very recently a wonderful school has been constructed. It was so beautiful I can't wait to show you pictures! The school has several classrooms, and the kids were being very attentive and cooperative.
In the coming weeks SOIL will be building toilets for the school -- possibly while the film crew is here....so stay tuned.......and always remember when you go to the bathroom: sanitation should be a basic human right......but actually, it is a privilege we in the "first" world often take for granted.......
HOLY CRAP!
First adventure of the trip: going to the Oxfam office with a goat. Here's what happened - Oxfam granted SOIL a huge contract to develop the compost sites (second contract this year) but for unknown reasons was slow to deliver the funds. Today, Sasha and Leah came up with the idea of going down to the Oxfam office to bribe our contact there to give us the funds -- with a goat -- just for fun.
One of the SOIL staff here at the house happens to have a sweet little goat, and was willing to let us borrow it for an hour to run our little mission. So we loaded up in the back of the truck, me, Sasha, Leah, and the goat, and headed through Delmas toward downtown and the Oxfam office, laughing and having a great time thinking of the upcoming surprise.
But one thing I've learned in my brief times in Haiti: nothing ever works out exactly as planned (isn't that true in most places?). In this case, the truck broke down on a very busy street, filled with school kids walking home from school (most schools just re-opened yesterday), many covering their heads with wash cloths, using umbrellas, or simply sweating from the humidity, and all of which were confounded to find two white women hanging out in the back of a truck with a goat (Sasha hopped on the back of a moto to go on down to the Oxfam office to sign the contract....).
After a few minutes of pondering, our driver went off to find a mechanic, and Leah and I sat inside the truck to get out of the sun, scheming up options for what to do now. Thankfully there was another truck available at the SOIL house, and Anthony agreed to come out in the middle of his busy work-day to assist us in our mission. After getting lost he did eventually scoop us and the goat up from the stranded vehicle, driving through stop and go traffic up and over Delmas toward Petitionville, where the Oxfam offices are.
The timing actually worked out perfectly, as we arrived at the offices just as Sasha was completing her meeting, and with the permission of the security guard we went through the gate with the goat. (Thankfully she pee'd and pooped right there on the door-steps -- before going inside -- good goat!)
It was a huge success as the entire office was laughing so loud to see a goat being paraded past their desks to the back of the office where our Oxfam officer was giggling and cracking up at our quasi-gift. We sang him happy birthday (since it is his birthday), and everyone clapped and cheered.
And the money has been delivered so it was a successful afternoon.
Prior to the goat mission, Sasha and I walked over to the yard behind Matthew 25, a house which became a central refuge for thousands of people after the earthquake, and where Sasha and Nick actually slept outside under the stars for months. Now it has been transformed into a "displacement camp", and very recently a wonderful school has been constructed. It was so beautiful I can't wait to show you pictures! The school has several classrooms, and the kids were being very attentive and cooperative.
In the coming weeks SOIL will be building toilets for the school -- possibly while the film crew is here....so stay tuned.......and always remember when you go to the bathroom: sanitation should be a basic human right......but actually, it is a privilege we in the "first" world often take for granted.......
HOLY CRAP!
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