ORLANDO, FLA.—Clean the World was in the right place at the right time during the recent cholera outbreak in Haiti. Shawn Seipler, executive director at Clean the World, and William Lowry, director of global development, were on a planned October 19 to 22 soap distribution trip to Haiti when word of a fatal cholera outbreak was first announced. The deadly epidemic, confirmed October 21 by the World Health Organization, claimed more than 300 lives in less than a week with many more deaths expected.
The mission was clear: Clean the World was in a position to provide soap to help prevent the spread of the disease, and it would take cooperation by its hotel partners to help get the job done fast. Clean the World had already delivered 25,000 bars of soap to several villages, schools, hospitals, orphanages, churches and earthquake refugee camps, but news of the outbreak created an even greater sense of urgency to the mission.
“Suddenly there was a crushing need for soap in all parts of Haiti, and we were fortunate to be on the island and in a position to help,” Seipler says. “There was panic and reports of hundreds of deaths with more on the way. We delivered 5,000 bars of soap to the St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc that was at the heart of the outbreak, but so much more is needed.”
Second Shipment on October 27
Seipler and Lowry worked with local health officials and Haitian community leaders to identify areas of greatest need and target soap deliveries to those regions. Clean the World’s main recycling operations center in Orlando kicked up production for direct distribution to Haiti, which also included new soap from hotel guestrooms all over North America. A shipment of 78,000 soap bars was sent October 27 to augment the earlier distribution and bring much-needed hygiene tools to people suffering from poor hygiene all over Haiti.
The total of more than 100,000 soap bars equates to 12,875 pounds of soap (nearly 6.5 tons) sent to Haiti in less than two weeks. Another 200,000 bars are expected to be sent to Haiti in November, Seipler says.
Clean the World receives a large majority of its soap from its more than 550 hotel partners throughout North America. Chief among the suppliers for the recent Haiti mission are the following companies and hotels: The Walt Disney World Resorts (Orlando), Harrah’s Resorts (Las Vegas), The Breakers (Palm Beach) and Mandarin Oriental (San Francisco). Other hotel partners, such as various Starwood and Westin properties, have also provided soap and bottled amenities specifically for Haiti.
“We could not accomplish any of this without our valued hotel partners,” Seipler says. “The incredible generosity of our partners—in the form of soap and in monetary donations to Clean the World—is what makes this all possible. Seeing the looks of gratitude on the faces of young children who receive this soap makes it all worthwhile. This soap represents hope for the people of Haiti. It’s really more precious than gold for families who are struggling with the effects of cholera and other infectious diseases.”
Check out the online photo gallery to view the photos of the recent trip to Haiti.
Go to Clean the World for additional information.
