Heart of the Cross Meets with Executives Without Borders + Plastic Bank in Haiti
Jackie Vouthouris, Guerry Lefranc, Johnny Atilus, Jessica Tripp and David Katz at Zamar Ministries in Haiti
Haiti suffers with many global challenges such as environmental pollution, poor access to education, hunger, lack of clean water and inadequate health care.
Heart of the Cross is helping young people be more aware of these problems that affect poor communities globally. By providing Asheville, NC youth with ways to partner and help solve these global problems, we are helping to make the world a better, more loving place.
The Following is an account from our Executive Director, Jessica Tripp while on a multi-purposed exploratory/mission trip to Haiti in March of 2015.
How Executives Without Borders Makes A Difference
Following our arrival in Port-Au-Prince, I headed to meet Jackie Vouthouris, Program Director of Executives Without Borders. My hope was to speak with Jackie and find out more about the Ramase Lajan program and how this recycling business works to improve the environment as well as bring much needed income to Haitians struggling in poverty.
I met with Jackie along with Johnny Atilus, the Haiti in-country Executives Without Borders director and David Katz, CEO of The Plastic Bank. Jackie told me that since 2011, 26 Ramase Lajan centers had opened in Haiti, sponsored by well known organizations like World Vision, Samaritans Purse, UMCOR and others. These centers, each made out of a 20 foot shipping container, provided a storefront for locals to bring plastic and aluminum for recycling.
Lower Oil Prices Have Hurt the Recycling Programs
In The Heart of the Cross World Changer Clubs, we teach that a decision in one part of the world does indeed affect the wellbeing of people living in another part of the world. The Ramase Lajan recycling centers were all doing well, generating the desired boost in economic stability and benefiting the environment, until recently when the price of petroleum dropped.
Plastics are a petroleum based product and the decreased cost directly impacted the resale value of recycled plastic. This directly affected the income of the Ramase Lajan beneficiaries, which in turn affected the motivation to bring plastics to the centers.
How The Plastic Bank Increases the Value of Recycled Plastic
As CEO of The Plastic Bank, David Katz works to both increase the value of recycled plastics and to reduce the amount of new plastic used and created world wide. The Plastic Bank works with major corporations to secure the buying of recycled plastics for a fair wage for the collectors. This helps to make plastic waste a currency that can help the world’s most disadvantaged people.
David’s desire to elevate the lives of the poor by making plastic more valuable to recycle, brought him together with Executives Without Borders’ Ramase Lajan program to find a solution to the problem they are currently facing.
Large Companies Help Small Recyclers
In 2014, LUSH cosmetics became a partner with The Plastic Bank becoming the first buyers of what The Plastic Bank calls “Social Plastic”. David continues to work with major corporations to secure the purchasing of Social Plastics. As this occurs, and more businesses commit to buying recycled plastics, beneficiaries like the owners of the Ramase Lajan centers increase their profits as they recycle, lifting them out of poverty and healing the environment.
You Can Help Too
Programs like Ramase Lajan create an opportunity for income that can begin to lift individuals out of poverty, giving them opportunities for education, quality food, better health care, access to safe water and other positive life changes. As with all initiatives that seek to reduce global issues, Ramase Lajan continues to move forward finding new ways to elevate the lives of the poor.
Heart of the Cross will continue to be in conversation with the Zamar community to discuss how we can work together for the common good, build servant leaders and create initiatives that reduce overall poverty. Your support and prayers will make a difference in this world.