SAKALA International

The pictures above show an idyllic sunrise at the Jaden Tap Tap community garden at SAKALA in Cité Soleil — and the same scene just after sundown when a trash fire across the street threatened to engulf the garden and left the surrounding neighborhoods once again immersed in smoke.

Despite the smoke, problems and poverty of the past and present, we believe the future is symbolized by the Cité Soleil sunrise.

Following the lead of SAKALA in Haiti, SAKALA International’s purpose is to work toward that world where that future is bright and resources, peace, and love abundant.

We are working toward a future where the children of Cité Soleil — and indeed throughout the world– can live in peace, breathe in fresh air, eat delicious and nutritious food, learn, play, grow up strong, and achieve their dreams.

Is that so much to ask?

We don’t think so.

At SAKALA in Haiti, they began with the guiding spirit: “Yon rèv tout bagay posib.” With a dream, anything is possible.

Over the years, we began to see that a dream was not enough. That people need opportunity to live out their dreams, to make a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities.

And so at SAKALA International we are adding opportunity to our guiding spirit: “With a dream and an opportunity, anything is possible.”

At SAKALA in Haiti, what is one day a dream that seems crazy impossible, the next day is an action plan for a better future.

That is how Jaden Tap Tap, once the site of a dump among many dumps in Cité Soleil, became Haiti’s largest urban garden.

But SAKALA Haiti is not stopping there and SAKALA International is following its lead in creating models to take on Haiti’s — and the world’s — toughest problems.

Leader Daniel Tillias has created teams to expand SAKALA’s environmental mission with the creation of  FatraKa.

In Haitian Creole, Fatra means trash and Ka means can, as in there is nothing we can’t do.

With the climate crisis upon us — and with Cité Soleil on the front lines — part of SAKALA International’s mission is to help further this vital environmental work.

This work includes:

— SAKALA Haiti’s  recycled FatraKa art program where youth produce super cool and beautiful frames, cards, and other artwork using materials found in street dumps. This work  is already available for sale in Haiti and will soon be available for shipment in the US.

— the creation of food/juice stands and other small enterprises where plastic bottles can be used as payment and then are collected and recycled to keep them from entering the ocean or clogging canals and causing flooding.

— the creation of Precious Plastic style workshop where plastic trash will be shredded, melted down, and then formed into useful products like planters (literally we hope to grow food from plastic trash).

—  urban gardening and tree planting/agroforestry initiatives.

— manufacturing of organic products from the moringa tree, such as a nutritious powder supplement and pressed oil that is excellent for skin and hair care.

— compost production start-ups that will remove organic waste from the streets and transform it into a tool that can improve the soil, help prevent erosion and flooding, and sequester carbon to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis now and in the future.

Donations

SAKALA International is a tax exempt 501(3) organization. Donations are tax deductible.

Donations by check can be made out to SAKALA International and mailed to SAKALA International, PO Box 490, Camden, Maine 04843.

Or donate online through PayPal through the link below.

Mèsi anpil (thanks very much in Haitian Creole) for your support and solidarity!