St Luke Foundation

Single use plastic is one of the main issue of flooding in Haiti.

As many students are struggling to pay their school fees because finding sponsors is not easy. The St Luke Foundation found out how flooding can be prevented and students can have the opportunity search for contribution to pay their school fees. But how?

With an awareness program, students of the Foundation schools and other Haitian schools will learn how dangerous are the plastic for the environment. They will learn the advantage of waste shortage and the plastic will need to go in the recycle bins at the schools.  And with our mini plastic lab project, these plastic will be recycle to new products that will be sell everywhere with the purpose to earn a contribution for the school fees of the students.

Students will learn how to reduce plastic in their environment by recycle them for their school fees.

Haiti is a country where the level of poverty is very high and helping those who are vulnerable is the main mission of the St Luke Foundation.

Through all the different social activities of the Foundation, great people accepted to donate to support the Education program which has more than 32 schools for more than 14,000 kids and young adult. As we all know that donations is not here forever that is why a plan B must be taken because the Education program can't stop. 

Because of the environmental degradation, the Foundation want to be part of the solution, not the pollution. As single use plastic is one of the cause of this degradation where they end up in the sewers and can be the reason of flooding. 

Two problems will be solved:

1-Kids and young adult can self support their school fees with contributions of created products from plastic.

2-Flooding will be reduce because plastic will be reduce in the environment (sewers)

The Foundation is saving lives and creating opportunities in Haiti by:life saving health care, Promoting economic independence, opening doors for students, and supporting grass-roots solutions. Those confirm that we are working and improving lives of kids, children, young adult and adult in remote areas in the country.

This plastics challenge is a project for the schools. As I'm in the Executive board, I know the need of the plan B for the schools to have their own funds too. After training, the students will know how to create different products from the plastic collected, they will be sold 

By cleaning the environment against plastic, the students will create opportunities with the plastic collected to earn contribution for their school fees. can you imagine how great will that be? creating opportunities with plastic waste.

Recycle the plastic to create new selling products is the solution. how will it works?

Young Haitian volunteers will be responsible to go from school to school for the awareness. 

we will start the recycling for the new products will be done with the mini laboratory with the precious plastic recycle machines.

The product will be sold online and in any local exhibition

Education works best with practice.

This mini lab project will be the first and only that will show students from different schools the process of plastic recycle in Haiti. beside explaining them how to protect their environment against plastic, they will see and practice. 

same as the schools of the Foundation, the other schools will have the opportunity to come visit and have their own workshop to learn how to create new product. Here we will point out the need for the schools to add an environmental time on the schools schedule for theory and practice

Find below the mini lab like the precious plastic model, the machines and examples of products that will be created.

And noted that we are planing to have a bigger lab in the future to serve more schools and to produce more even reusable bottles to offer the schools as gifts. 

The Foundation is currently serving around 14,000 students

This project is specifically for those students. For the first year we will serve only the schools of the Foundation. And after we will include other schools that's mean we will serve more students.

The St Luke Foundation

1- Our programs bring life-saving medical care to undeserved communities so that residents can provide for their families and live life to its fullest potential. you can see http://www.stlukehaiti.org/health-care

2- Each September thousands of Haitian mothers and fathers struggle to find a school for their children, overcoming tremendous hardships as they fight to give their children a chance at education. http://www.stlukehaiti.org/education

3- With sustainable employment, readily available goods, and resources and profits that stay in country, Haitian people can move beyond survival and toward economic independence. http://www.stlukehaiti.org/economic-development

4- With the Rethink Plastics Challenge, we want to get involved in the Environmental solutions. 

For this project; the goals are:

1-Next Year

-For the Foundation to be part of the solution, not the pollution

-Teach students of the Foundation the value of protecting the environment against plastic waste

2-Five Years

-Extend this program to other schools

-Teach students how to be independent 

-Teach Haitian students how to protect the environment against all kind of waste

-Having a plastic recycling center

-The Barrier for the first year is the operating fund after we start it.

-As our goal is to expand the project, to have a recycling center, the barrier will be the recycling machines (bigger ones).

-Participate in this challenge is the plan to overcome the identified barriers for the first year.

- For the 5 year, We will search for partners to have the machines.

this program is planed only for Haiti students but the products that will be created will be sold in the whole world

The team

1-between 3-5 volunteers from the partner (part-time)

2- The operations Manager (full-Time)

3-The Assistant (full-time)

4-The General Director of the schools (as supervisor) 

5- Lourdia Exavier (full-Time) (as adviser)

6- 5 young volunteers, to go from school to school to educate the students

-As I was in the Plastic Bank team, I know how managing this project, either the environmental education or the plastic recycling. and noted that I'm having an M2 in Comparative and International Law of Environment. Project to protect the environment is what I'm looking for every single day and the team as the volunteers are people who knows about recycling. 

We are partnering with the High school in Fort Collins for the machines and the recycling training.

Business model

1-Key resources: --->Human, financial, and technology

2-Key activities :...>Recycling, creating, educating,

3-Type of intervention:.....> service and produce

4-Segments: .....>Students in Haiti

5-Value proposition:,.....>Get involved on the protection of the Environment

6-Partner+key stockholders:......> Recycling groups

7-Channel:.......>Internet, school to school

8-Cost Structure:......> Staff, operational cost

9-surplus:.......>Marketing

10-Revenue:.......> Participation of the sold products and donations 

-We will search for donations and Grants

-We will sell the products

The Rethink Plastics Challenge is an opportunity for other partners to know about this solution to protect the environment and to find any kind of sponsors(Finance and Technology) 

Being selected will help the Foundation to have the operating costs after we start this environmental solution for the students in Haiti.  

-Any Recycling Organization to have recycling machines and training