Program areas at SOIL
Ecological sanitation - soil has developed a container-based sanitation (cbs) system to provide impoverished communities in dense urban areas in haiti with access to dignified, safe and affordable toilets. Soil's sanitation services are primarily directed to households through their ekolakay program. However, it also operates several public toilets in partnership with local government and it rents portable toilets for events and short-term needs.
Research - soil is committed to ensuring that the implementation of sanitation services is guided by rigorous evidence-based research. Soil has a dedicated research department whose purpose is to evaluate ongoing programming to ensure that soil's services are cost effective, equitable and environmentally sound. It is the role of the research department to liaise to enhance the impact of soil's core mission. The research department is tasked with disseminating peer-reviewed publications as a method for sharing lessons learned with other implementers, promoting further scientific enquiry into effective sanitation and waste treatment technologies, and contributing to teh global sectoral dialogue around sanitation provision.
Composting of human waste - soil has an established composting waste treatment site in northern haiti in the town of limonade. At this site, the human waste is safely converted into nutrient rich compost that can be used to enhance the soil in agricultural and reforestation applications.
Education and outreach - soil conducts education and outreach programs designed to support others in replicating its work. As a part of this effort, soil has organized educational consultation activities and workshops for other organizations, the haitian government and various international entities. Soil is committed to transparently sharing its research so that its work in haiti can be adapted in vulnerable urban communities worldwide.
Emergency response - soil operates in a highly fragile context which is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and public health threats. In the face of these ongoing risks, soil invests in emergency preparedness and frequently participates in coordinated response efforts when there is an emergency in haiti (recent examples include flooding, earthquakes, covid-19 and cholera).