For our first trip to Haiti, we are planning to work in the town of Leogane and the village of Komer which is just south of Leogane. We are grateful for the assistance of the Konbit Shelter group who we will be accompanying on the trip, as well as Fritz Pierre-Louis of Magepa who lives and works in Leogane.

The trip will go from May 15th to May 30th, with some of our members staying a few additional weeks to continue promoting stoves and working with Konbit building homes.

Chip Energy specializes in the development of biomass gasifiers and is currently designing facilities for biomass recycling in the U.S. and stove production in developing countries. They are a leading supplier of biochar. Chip Energy is the primary sponsor for our project.
Visit the Chip Energy website here.

Konbit Shelter is a sustainable building project comprising of artists, builders, architects and engineers. They construct buildings using earth bag architecture, an incredible method that leads to high quality buildings at a low cost by using the earth as the primary material. They have been instrumental in helping us arrange travel plans for this summer.
Visit the Konbit Shelter website here.

Located just off the UIUC campus, the Illinois Biochar Group is comprised of professors, soil scientists, chemists, and businessmen encouraging research in the production and use of biochar. TLUD stoves can produce biochar, creating a sustainable cycle of improved agriculture and clean cookstoves.
Visit the ISTC Biochar website here.

Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D. (aka Dr. TLUD) is a retired geography professor at Illinois State University and currently is the leading expert and promoter of Top-Lit Up-Draft (TLUD) stove technology. We consider TLUD stoves to be among the best alternatives to charcoal cooking for the Haitian people. Dr. Anderson has traveled to Haiti and other countries to implement these stoves, has hosted a number of workshops, and is extremely active in stove development. Anderson, Roth, and Fairchild most recently pioneered a new charcoal stove add-on known as the "TChar" which is an excellent adaptation to Haitian cooking styles.
Visit Dr. Anderson's website here.

Dr. Tami Bond is a professor at UIUC in Atmospheric Sciences. Her group studies the environmental impacts of combustion emissions, especially carbonaceous particles. She was a featured speaker at several ETHOS conferences (Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service) and serves on the testing committee for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Professor Bond is the principal investigator on our project's P3 grant and will contribute knowledge on emissions and testing equipment.
Visit Dr. Bond's website here.