Tap Tap Garden & EcoSan Toilet Inauguration 

On behalf of SAKALA-Pax Christi Ayiti, Bochika, and SOIL,  we officially invite you to attend  the inauguration of the Jaden Tap Tap (Tap Tap Garden) and EcoSan Toilet in Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince Haiti on January 22, 2011. This incredible event will be the formal launch of the youth-tended and community-driven aboveground urban agroecology program, a collaboration of our organizations.  The celebration begins at 10am and will include a performance by the internationally recognized Haitian musician BelO, agricultural demonstrations, youth presentations and performances, and the inauguration of a new community Eco-San toilet. 

The Jaden Tap Tap is an acre of former landfill that now symbolizes hope, empowerment, education, and opportunity for the surrounding community. This bountiful garden already has more than 500 brightly painted tires used as planting beds for nutritious fruits and vegetables, a flower garden, and a nursery with over 1000 Moringa saplings.  250 youth-at-risk from SAKALA eagerly participated in the preparation, planting and maintenance of the garden.  Your attendance will help us showcase the Jaden Tap Tap as a model for urban agriculture for the neighborhood, country, and the world – demonstrating that bountiful, nutritious gardens can be grown in even the harshest conditions.  To learn more, please visit: www.bochika.org.

The Eco-San toilet in Cite Soleil is the newest of SOIL’s Eco-San toilets that are providing essential sanitation services to over 70,000 people in urban and rural Haiti.  The “Toilet Inauguration” includes a fun presentation on the basics of ecological sanitation and hygiene. The toilet also closes the cycle of transforming human wastes into useable resources- the Tap Tap Garden has already purchased 20 bags of Eco-San compost from SOIL.  To learn more, please visit: www.oursoil.org.

We hope you can celebrate with us in Haiti on January 22, if so please RSVP below (http://conta.cc/TapTapEvent).  Media inquires and Haiti or travel questions should be directed to Haiti Program Director, Ann Marie, annmarie@bochika.org or 305.747.1984. Whether or not you are able to join us, you can celebrate virtually by contributing to the immediate costs of the inauguration and construction of the community Eco-San toilet via our First Giving Page: http://bit.ly/FirstGivingTapTap or through PayPal: http://bit.ly/TapTapDonate.  Any donations over this short-term goal will go directly to the Tap Tap Garden.  It is with the generous support of individuals and organizations like you we continue to work together to make Haiti a more sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous country.  We look forward to celebrating with you!  

Sincerely,