Lifeline worked in Haiti for nearly five years to address the country’s urgent need for cooking fuel and help its communities gain greater economic independence. Three major programs benefited people in Haiti:

  • Humanitarian Stove Program: Lifeline began a year-long stove distribution program in the Port-au-Prince area following the area’s devastating earthquake in January 2010, distributing 13,000 free stoves and benefiting some 65,000 people. In 2011, Lifeline transformed this humanitarian program into a “commercial” one, producing stoves for commercial sale, which stimulated self-sustaining markets and helped build local capacity.
  • Commercial Stove Program: After launching its commercial stove program, Lifeline sold some 20,000 of its Recho PlopPlop+ (Creole for “Quick Quick Stove+”) charcoal-burning stoves to impoverished Haitian urban dwellers living in Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities. Lifeline later teamed up to integrate its stove operations with a Haitian social entrepreneurship company, D&E Green Enterprises, which helped D&E achieve profitability and provided sustainable access to fuel saving stoves for the Haitian people. The stoves reduce charcoal consumption by up to 40%, which saves Haitian families up to $220 each year, allowing them to recoup 20% of their income.
  • Institutional Stove Program: From 2010 through 2014, Lifeline provided 550 institutional stoves to schools in Port-au-Prince and Gonaive. Manufactured by Prakti Design in India, these stoves are fueled by paper waste briquettes, eliminating the need for wood and charcoal. Benefits included: cleaner neighborhoods, job creation in the recycling industry, environmental preservation, reduced exposure to indoor air pollution and cost savings for schools.