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Green Schools
To encourage Haiti’s recovery with a greener focus, Episcopal Relief & Development has teamed up with ACT Alliance partner Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti's Anglican Office for Education (BAEH) to launch a pilot renewable energy and water and sanitation program at three Episcopal Schools.
NCA’s Going Green objectives are:
- To reduce the quantity of non-renewable fuels used in three school kitchens and the overall air pollution around Episcopal school through the construction of three small scale bio-digester systems that will produce cooking fuel (methane gas).
- To reduce the overall load on local groundwater resources and minimize the cost of purchasing water for the three schools through the installation of rain water harvesting and collection systems along school roof surfaces.
- To improve students’ access to clean water that can be used for consumption and for the school canteens through the installation or rehabilitation of one borehole well per school in close proximity to each campus.
- To improve the hygiene habits of over 7,500 individuals (est. 1,500 students and 6,000 family/community members) through behavior change education regarding sanitation and hygiene.
- To transfer knowledge about green technology and renewable energy use to local committees or community structures composed of parents, students, church members and others to ensure the operation, maintenance and sustainability of the new sanitation and water systems, and to increase future use of green technologies.
Bio-digesters are sewage systems built to produce biogas (methane) through a process of controlled anaerobic digestion of organic matter (human waste in this case). The NCA bio-digester systems will provide for the disposal of waste, capture of greenhouse gases, and production of cooking fuel for the Episcopal school canteens. It is also anticipated that the by-products (water) of the bio-digester systems will be used as fertilizer for school gardens.
The bio-digester system connected to student latrines is being built below school grounds. The student latrines are being upgraded to accommodate both flush toilets and hand washing stations. The water for these latrines will come primarily from a rainwater harvesting and conservation system being installed by NCA along the eaves of newly rebuilt school classrooms (built through a school reconstruction project led by BAEH, in partnership with ACT Alliance member Finn Church Aid). Collected rainwater will be pumped to an elevated tank by a small solar-powered electrical pump also being installed by NCA, thus further reducing the schools’ dependency on unreliable and expensive electricity supplies and other non-renewable energy sources.
Phase III
Since April 2011, NCA’s Water and Sanitation Coordinator, Flory Balaga, and his team of technicians and community educators have worked with the Matthieu Episcopal parish, school committee, teachers and 300+ students in the commune of Léogâne to install the first bio-digester system. This new system was inaugurated in September 2011. As of December 2011, an additional bio-digester is being piloted at the Episcopal school of Bon Berger in Danot (commune of Grand Goâve).
Phase III: 2012
In 2012, NCA will expand its program to a third Episcopal school complex in Darbonne (commune of Léogâne).
For more information about bio-digester systems, click here.
