The Haiti Projects

December 12th, 2011

Greetings friends of Ayiti,

The present newsletter is a synopsis of the progress of The Haiti Projects and its unified allies since September 2011, and the and long term focus of our common vision. The previous Feb 2011 and Sept 2011 newsletters are available upon sign-up for newsletters by emailing me at newearthroot@gmail.com
I have recently made my return to the Province of Quebec; currently in Montreal and have been back in Canada from Haiti for seven months now. These months have been dedicated to getting back to being debt free. Now that that has been accomplished, I will be in the Province of Quebec, mostly Montreal, to prepare and host a couple of events, and fundraise before going back to Haiti in a couple months.
The events will bring people up to date on the current situation, present the progress of the free Haiti movement and the featured projects for 2012, and hopefully raise enough funds to support the minimum required for my return as a non-profit, non-paid volunteer.
I am also offering free presentations at any desired location, where a montage of Haitian film and documentaries, including actual project footage in Haiti is shown in exerts to tell the story of the history of Haiti, of voudou, and current actuality.
The past months have been prolific in deepening communication between allies. This process is ongoing, but the 2012 projects have taken shape. The main allies are AVM, Earthship Biotecture, ACD and The Diaspora Travels. Other main allies are funders, some confirmed, and some in the process of solidification.
AVM (Association of MUCI volunteers):
The Haiti Projects and Earthship Biotecture have associated with AVM. They are a Haitian organization whom’s key words are, “ environment and protecting the country’s natural resources, tree nurseries and forestation, recycling and reusing in creative ways, raising the awareness,” the list goes on.
The work will start immediately when I return to Haiti in a couple months. AVM and The Haiti Projects will be setting up recycling depots in Port au Prince, Pétionville, and Léogâne to begin with.
These depots will double up as information booths for the people to have written and verbal access to the logic and philosophy in having these depots. Information about specific projects and products that will come of the use of these materials will also be posted for all to see. The work is being done to set it up so that people get paid for bringing in materials (plastic bottles, tires, glass, styro foam, paper, cardboard, plastic, cans, the list goes on). The depots would also be staffed with a person or two, remunerated to sort materials as they come in.
*A big percentage of the materials will be used in the next Earthship projects. The depots will help facilitate and structure the material collection portion of the Earthship builds, and better involve and integrate Haitian participants.
The material depots will also be used to facilitate other sustainable projects and the training of participants.
The Haiti Projects is looking into using the paper and cardboard to make burnable pellets that are used in the same way as charcoal from the cut trees. This will help raise awareness about deforestation, about creative reusing, and generate some jobs in a sustainable way where the money paid to buy pellets instead of charcoal, will provide revenue for depot staff and paying the people for the materials brought in to the depot. These type of pellets are already being done in Haiti on a tiny scale, through a simple, non-earth harming method.
The other priority on arrival will be the preparing of the terrain, and pre training the participants for the next Earthship build. The Haiti Projects and Earthship Biotecture are in the process of deciding where and who will be the beneficiaries.
There are several options. Our desire is to build and collaborate with each of these projects. For 2012, the options soon to be decided upon are: a school in Léogâne, an orphanage in Jacmel, a food kitchen that serves the people in need in the heart of Port au Prince (this in an AVM initiative and is already up and running, but they need a building), and a school/community center on La Gonave. To see pictures and details of the model that will be used for the school, please check out Earthship Biotecture Facebook page to see ‘the flower’ built recently by EB in Sierra Leone, Africa.
The project selection is being based solely on which one holds the best aspects logistically, and will best help the creation of the avenues needed to continue to build for the other projects.
AVM is also offering micro loans for the Haitian participants who receive certification. They will have a chance to build houses and structures for their own families and communities AVM is also providing an indoors teaching room in the heart of Port au Prince, for a variety of long or short term courses. If interested in teaching courses in Haiti, please contact Marita Mariasine.

EARTHSHIP BIOTECTURE: An Earthship is a radically sustainable home made of recycled materials. An Earthship is defined by the following 6 principles; Thermal/Solar Heating and Cooling, Solar & Wind electricity, Contained Sewage Treatment, Built with Natural and Recycled Materials, Water Harvesting, Food Production. The Earthship building method has been evolving for over 40 years.

ACD: Alliance of Conscious Documentarians is a network of media artists who bring visibility to the People’s perspective.
The Alliance of Conscious Documentarians aka ACD Media was a concept that began a year and a half ago and is now in the process of materializing. We are a group of media artists from various disciplines that support each other and work together to bring the voices of disenfranchised people and forgotten social issues to the forefront of the people’s struggle. We are grassroots and driven by the needs of the communities we serve.’
Currently we are working on the following projects:
-Ayiti Solidarity – Documenting the work for The Haiti Projects
-Forced Trajectory
-Education
-Palestine

THE DIASPORA TRAVELS: Follows the Diaspora going to Haiti, mapping resources and tracking donations going to Haiti, through interactive documentary film. TDT also creates avenues of ongoing media by recruiting media trainers and giving media training on the ground in Haiti. It creates a space and dialogue for news from home, tells the untold story, exposes images that mobilize. All this is done using documentary, film and video, music videos, video projection, media education, community empowerment, community media.

In the long term scope of The Haiti Projects and allies, there are plans and opportunities for developing several permaculture and cultivation projects, creative projects that recycle materials, building trainings in non-earth harming and sustainable technologies and sustainable energy, projects promoting cultural exchange, art and music, and more.
For more information on current projects, projects in development, how to get involved, more about Haiti, presentation and event dates, etc, please contact Marita Mariasine on facebook, or by email at newearthroot@gmail.com

Links and contacts:
www.earthship.com/Haiti (Earthship Biotecture)
https://acdmedia.wordpress.com (ACD)
http://www.docuvixen.com (The Diaspora Travels)
http://www.muci-haiti.org/ (AVM)(this site is under construction, check them out on FB)

On Youtube:
Haiti earthship disaster relief part 2
Haiti earthship disaster relief project overview
Haiti Earthship tour: The Diaspora Travels
Simple survival model Earthship (suited for North America, different from model suited for the tropics)

On Facebook:
Earthship Biotecture (see pictures of ‘the Flower’ built recently in Sierra Leone, will be replicated in Haiti)
Marita Mariasine on facebook or email newearthroot@gmail.com

Peace and Unity