Scientific Day at UNDH/UDERS
Scientific Day at UNDH/UDERS
Hinche, Haiti
June 02, 2018
Watch the video from Scientific Day here…
Scientific Day Synopsis
Scientific Day began at 9 o’clock in the morning on June 2nd, 2018. The event took place in the auditorium at University Notre Dame/UDERS in Hinche. The Biogas and Solar Stove committee organized and planned the event. The program included both PowerPoint and live presentations on biodigesters and solar stoves. The presentations were mostly conducted by bioscience major students at the university, as well as by biologist Jocenais Pierre.
According to the committee, over 200 people attended the event. There were also several media outlets that conducted interviews with some of the stakeholders and participants.
Solar Stove Demo and Biodigester presentation
During one of the breaks in presentations, the audience was invited to go look at the parabolic stove and the biodigester that were set up on the field. Idamane Supreme, Marc Breus, and Onel Joseph were stationed on the field to answer the attendees’ questions about the Premium 14 parabolic stove. On the other side of the field, the biogas team conducted a field presentation about the biodigester.
Near the end of the day, Idamane and Marc conducted a live cooking demonstration with the parabolic stove. Within 30 minutes, (about 2:45 PM) they had cooked porridge out of toasted French flour using the parabolic stove. The porridge smelled and tasted great, and all of the participants were excited about the results.
Quotes from Participants
“This is the first time this event has such an exposure both national and international. We have the presence our partners from the United States, local politicians, and many students from different institutions. We also have a great media presence. I think this time it is a better opportunity to spread the word further” We thank especially Father Herald and Rose for reaching out to many people and organizations that are so instrumental to the success our event and the Solar and biogas program. We need a lot advertising to convince people to purchase our products. We also need to provide locally the raw materials and labor for Haiti so that everyone may access to the solar stoves at an affordable price” Peter Morancy (UNDH/UDERS Solar and Biogas Committee General Coordinator)
“We are the pioneers. We are the unique university with a Solar and Biogas program. This event was a grand premiere in the history of the university. We feel very proud. The biogas plays a double function: gas plus fertilizer. Now, we need to distribute those biodigesters to the people in the community because the biogas is going to not only help the environment, but it will also help people save money and it offers opportunity for entrepreneurship as well”
Jocenais Pierre (UNDH/UDERS Solar and Biogas Committee Adviser/Biologist)
“It’s difficult to change people from traditional methods of cooking. So, we need to become pioneers in the house for others to follow. I will continue to bring my contributions to make this program a success. We didn’t get to demonstrate the gas, but overall it was a great event”. We definitely will be better prepared next time and we will continue to attack”
Wesley Ely (UNDH/UDERS Solar and Biogas Committee member, Logistics)
For more pictures from Scientific Day click here…
To watch the solar cooking demonstration at Scientific Day click here….
