Creating sustainable jobs & clean burning biochar

The Shively School of Engineering at the University of Portland, has finished its work with our original kiln and it is being prepared to ship to Haiti this month. This will cost approx. $5,000 for freight, packing, duties, transport and land preparation.

We now have the fabrication drawings and a couple local sources in Haiti who think that they can fabricate future kilns.

We also have two additional teams of Capstone students working on design improvements over the next school year. These teams will make mission trips to Haiti in the Fall of 2016 to see first hand the issues that face the successful implementation of the kiln. They will also study ways to allow for irrigation of the fields and water for the cooling system in the kiln. Cost for these trips usually amount to $15,000. The university has helped the students with grants and assistance for approximately $10,000, leaving BonZeb to cover the additional $5,000.

We are also exploring the use of wind and solar power to run our pumps and winches. This will cost approx. $5,000.

We have also been offered, at a price, one carreaux to establish our first plant. This will cost approx. $15,000.

So you can see why we are excited about the future and God's continued blessing on our work.

Now to the unfortunate news. You might not be aware of political situation and tension currently in Haiti, but for the past several months there has been no government in place as the two remaining candidates for president haven't agreed to the final election process. This means that many other governmental seats have not been filled, as they await a new president. This has caused much tension in the streets and increased attacks, including kidnapping and robberies. This past week our logistics manager, Verly, was robbed and car jacked after his monthly trip to pick up our payroll for the workers. He was left beaten but alive and the police were able to recover and return the vehicle hours later.

But the payroll, Verly's phone and his cash have all gone missing. This has put us in a difficult situation as we are not in the position to replace this payroll. We have over the past few months gathered a number of recurring monthly donations, which is a great help to planning and operating. We are now in need of the replacement payroll and this months payroll $1,750 and $2,000, respectively.

As we move forward we hope that you will continue your prayers for the people of Haiti and support for our efforts to make a difference by giving a hand up and not a hand out.

As I mentioned above we are attempting to increase the number of monthly donors and ask you to consider becoming a recurring donor.

Whatever you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thomas J. Stein