HC’s first Sustainability Social: a big success!

March 31^st was a busy day for Haiti Communitere. It marked the first ‘Sustainability Social’, and everyone hoped for success. The days leading up to the event were all hands on deck to get the base ready, and everyone’s hard work paid off. The HC gate saw hundreds of people pass through, most of which were Haitians. People enjoyed getting an up-close look at the great projects that our partners are working on, and the women of the Ubuntu-Blox training were able to come early with their loved ones to show off the Ubuntu house that they are building on the HC base. Event attendees were entertained by FAVILEK, a women’s theater group, followed by a circus act and break-dancing by CYBORG from Cite Soleil.

Permaculture Design Course with Sadhana Forest

Help Build a Flourishing Indiginous Food Forest!

Sadhana Forest is now offering a FREE Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course, with hands on experience over two months in the summer of 2012 in Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. This will give participants the chance to apply their knowledge and help the local Haitian community.

Sadhana Forest Haiti is an international volunteer community that aims to reintroduce an indigenous food forest to Haiti. We share with volunteers and our local community our desire to live sustainably, from organic food growth to alternative energy sources, to composting. We utilize Permaculture techniques and design philosophy to achieve our goals.

As part of the course we will travel to rural communities in Haiti, plant trees and help design and implement little food gardens! 

If you have ever dreamed of getting hands on experience and helping supply food security for Haitian communities…

Here is your chance!

We urgently need enthusiastic volunteers to help us restore the environment and improve the quality of life of thoudsands of people.

You will receive training in permaculture design free of charge, while also learning intercultural communication in Haiti from JUNE 11 – AUGUST 10, 2012.  Each student will have a chance to apply the permaculture techniques to a specific site in Haiti that will immediatily benfit local Hatiain families.

So if you… 

• Are interested in regenerative agriculture
• Are willing to contribute $4 a day for three vegan meals, made with locally purchased ingredients
• Want to make a significant impact on people’s livelihood and the environment
• Can offer 2 months or more of your time

Then, CONTACT US!

Inquiries can be sent to:

sadhanaforesthaiti@gmail.com

(click here for more information)

Eco-Heroes: Timote Georges with Trees for the Future

The Discover Channel, as part of their Eco-Heroes show, went to Haiti to document the community led reforestation work being led by Timote Georges and Trees for the Future. (http://www.plant-trees.org)

Local Earth / Haiti News [February]

Welcome to the very first edition of the Local Earth ~ Haiti newsletter!  Local Earth is a platform that facilitates intercommunication and collaboration amongst all of the amazing endeavors working towards sustainable community development in Haiti.  We gladly invite you to participate in cultivating a healthy, active & effective conscious community.

***Upcoming Activities & Events (see Calendar for more details)…

• EcoSan Working Group Meeting:  (Feb 15, 2pm, SOIL office- Delmas 33) A group for individuals and organizations working on or planning EcoSan projects in Haiti, in order to effectively and efficiently share information and resources in a focused setting, meant to strengthen the overall effectiveness of EcoSan projects throughout the country.
• Food & Film Social: (Feb 23, 4:30pm, Le Daily Gourmet Cafe-Tabarre) A monthly social gathering to share food while we engage, network, learn and exchange our knowledge and experiences in our path toward a more sustainable Haiti. The social/food hour is followed by a thought-provoking and inspiring film.
• Meet N Greet: (Feb 24, 5pm, AFH Office-Petionville) Architecture for Humanity’s monthly Meet N Greet.  Come mingle after work over beverages & hors d’oeuvres.  There will be a guest presenter who will give a slide show on a reconstruction project

• Local Earth Festival:  This March begins the first chapter of the Local Earth Festival in Costa Rica (March 2013)!  A portion of our team will be spending the month of March scouting out the site and logistic for next year’s festival!  This is an exciting new project that is just beginning… our logistics/planning team is currently forming.  If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us!
• ***Get Involved!:  Your help would be greatly appreciated in updating our blog, calendar and facebook page.  Contact us if you wish to be added as admin for editing capabilities.

***Updates of Recent Community Action (click links for more info)…

• Zone 3 Networking Social:  Seasonal opening at Cafe des Arts
• Haiti Communitere & Konbit Soley Leve:  There is finally an Eiffel Tower in Paris!
• Pax Christi, SOIL & Bochika: Urban Community Garden in Cite Soleil
• Give Love: Composting toilet project in Cite Soleil

Thank you so much for all you are and all you do for the development of a more sustainable and resilient community in Haiti.  Let us become a progressive global leader in local communities that live with intention and respect;  to the earth and one another.  “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”  ~Hopi Elders.

Wishing you a beautiful February full of love!

From the Local Earth~Haiti team

Rebuild Globally

REBUILD Globally is creating livelihood and educational opportunities for people in distressed communities by using techniques that promote recycling, education, gainful employment, agriculture and community development.

The craftsmen and women on the REBUILD team produce “REBUILDERS” — handmade sandals made from tires off of Haiti’s streets.  They also produce handbags made from recycled candy and spaghetti wrappers.  Visit their website to see their latest products.  Your purchase ensures that Haitian men and women will continue to work and provide for their families.

	http://www.rebuildglobally.org/store.html

Give Love

GIVE LOVE – COMMUNITY-LED SANITATION PROJECTS TO TREAT & COMPOST WASTE, IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH & CREATE JOBS AROUND RECYCLING…

“When you work on improving sanitation, like we do in Haiti,you start to really see the big picture. Sanitation is the keystone to solving so many problems in the world– improving public health, reducing child mortality, recycling and reducing waste,
and protecting water resources — and yet no one is really talking about the problem of untreated sewage or the fact that
40 % of the world’s poorest people live without a toilet. The global community needs to commit resources to finding
sustainable solutions.”

Haiti Communitere

Haiti Communitere (HC) is a Haitian based organization that strives for Haitian and International groups to operate as a community, thus increasing capacity and streamlining logistical operations. HC partners operate in a shared overhead environment, thus allowing their focus of operations to remain project based. HC continues to respond to the observed needs not being addressed on the ground while coordinating a Sustainability Resource Center that fosters creativity and connectivity while inspiring the Haitian and International development effort.

Soley Leve

The mission of Soley Leve is to work to help the citizens of Cite Soleil take their lives into their own hands with their own resources. But Soley Leve is not an organization, or an NGO, or a project – all these words have been spoiled by too many years of heavy-handed intervention in Cite Soleil by NGOs and the UN. Soley Leve is a konbit. Haiti has a strong tradition of labor exchange: in the countryside, when a task is too great for one farmer, he will call konbit, and his neighbors will come and help him. There is no expectation of money: just the expectation of some music, perhaps some rum, and that the farmer calling konbit will come and help when someone else is in trouble. In Haiti’s largest slum, we have taken this rural seed and planted it in an urban environment: when a neighborhood runs into a challenge that is too hard for them, they call other neighborhoods to help.

SOIL

Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a US 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti. We believe that the path to sustainability is through transformation, of both disempowered people and discarded materials, turning apathy and pollution into valuable resources. What We Do SOIL promotes integrated…

Food.Fun.Film!

Local Earth Monthly Gathering – See Calendar for Details

Join us for a fun, casual and inspiring afternoon/evening of delicious locally grown food, ecologically conscious conversation and thought provoking film!  Meet like-minded friends in the community… share ideas… share laughs… and share yummy food!  Each month’s film will be in some way guided towards creating healthy and resilient local communities.

If you can’t make it for the potluck, join us for the film… or vice-versa.  The first several hours of the afternoon/evening is social/potluck time; after which we will begin the film.  This is a ‘leave a positive trace’ event, so we kindly ask that everyone brings their own reusable cutlery, plate and drinking containers.  Our intention is that these gatherings inspire positive social change and create no waste.  We also ask that a sincere effort is made to bring vegetarian dishes that are created with locally sourced organic ingredients.  We want to eliminate as many ‘food miles’ and chemically/petroleum-based pesticides as possible.  We look forward to celebrating local community resilience with you!

This Month’s Details

Date/Time/Location: See Calendar for Details