Monthly Newsletter: March 2019

Here's what we've been up to this March. The civil unrest in Haiti has been our biggest hurdle, but we're excited to continue our fundraising goal for the purchase of our new land!

Street protests in Haiti. Photo from NPR

This month, the civil unrest in Haiti has made Kay Blada's operations difficult. Banks are closed, gasoline is scare, and the roads are too dangerous to travel to collect plastic. Since February 7th, citizens have been protesting in the streets, calling for President Jovenel Moise to resign over alleged misuse of the Petrocaribe fund. As always, the safety of our staff is most important to us. We have not been transporting plastic since the protests began.

Blada, KBR's founder, says, "[The unrest] slows everything down. And it's continuing as of now. There's so much instability right now in many places in Haiti..."

"Kay Blada Recycling is currently sitting on 4 months of inventory. Kay Blada has been collecting plastics for the past four months and we haven't transported any plastic because the roads are too dangerous. That is definitely the result of the unrest, and it's not only us, buyers in Port-au-Prince are also sitting on large inventory as well."

However, Kay Blada Recycling is determined to work through these events. Working in Haiti is never without its struggles.

We ask for your support now more than ever to continue improving lives in Haiti.

Kay Blada's 3-wheeler collects recycling from collectors in Hinche (left). At right, Man-Belo and Masoute (two full-time collectors) sort and clean bottles for recycling.

However, there is some good news!

In January, Kay Blada purchased its first plot of land. Previously, we were renting a small yard in town and did not have enough space for all the plastic we were collecting. Now, we will be able to grow into a much larger organization and continue to clean up the streets of Hinche.

On this new land, we will have our own covered area for collecting, cleaning, and compacting plastic, as well as a solar array to power our equipment (generously donated by Birdseye Renewable Energy). Kay Blada is committed to running its entire operation as sustainably as possible.

We have been fundraising to make the payments on this land. Of the $20,000 needed, we have raised $7,000. Many of our supporters have shared our campaign on Facebook, and we really appreciate that. Please support us and help us reach our goal of $20,000!

Earlier this month, we were also featured on this 5-minute podcast by Conrad Fox from

Round Earth Media. He calls Kay Blada a group of "visionary locals" turning "junk into jobs." Not a bad way to describe us!

As always, thank you for everything you do to support us. Kay Blada would not exist without its donors.

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