Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Dirty Side of Biodigesters

The Clemson engineers have built a new biodigester latrine here in Cange that will provide more sanitary restroom conditions, take care of waste management, and produce useful gas and waste water for agriculture. I've shown you a few pictures of it already, but it has so far been inactive. Yesterday, I joined Sam on an trip to collect 30 gallons of cow manure to seed the biodigester bag preparing it for use by people. Hopefully by next week it will be operational.

When we traveled to the town of Casse to pick up the sack of kaka bef, rain was just arriving. We delicately tossed the large sack into the back of the pickup truck and took off to Cange. On our way through the Casse market, about 10 people jumped in the back of a truck for a faster trip up the road. I suspect they were unaware of the other cargo we were hauling.
Fortunately, upon returning to Cange, the rain finally moved on and we were able to carry the manure down to the biodigester. Here are a few pictures of the professional process of scooping poo into a bag.






2 comments:

  1. The real question is how many orange shirts are there between the 3 of you?

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  2. Alan,
    A team of 8 from my parish, Grace Episcopal Church in Alexandria, VA will be coming to Mirebalais to visit with the Haiti Micah Project. I wish to bring them to Cange to see the wonderful mission there. I am thinking Tuesday, November 12th. I would love to meet with you and learn more about your ministry in Cange. I figure you'd be able to steer us toward a place to eat for lunch. I plan to have us arrive in the morning and depart by 1:00pm. Fr. Joseph Constant is helping to connect us to the priest in charge there and to see if Per Lafontant is available to meet with our group.
    I've been to Cange just over a year ago with a group from Virginia Seminary. We stayed for 3 days - it was an amazing time. I am a former missionary in Tanzania, where I taught. I figure it will be a way to show a mission effort that works well in Haiti, to compare and contrast other mission efforts in Haiti. My hope is that the trip plants these first time mission travelers with a heart for Haiti and a concern for partnership and effective advocacy.
    Peace,
    The Rev. Leslie Nunez Steffensen
    Assistant to the Rector
    Grace Episcopal Church
    assistant.rector@gracealex.org

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