Fundraiser held in Menomonee Falls to build latrines for Haiti

MENOMONEE FALLS (WITI) -- Brick by brick, Duane Peterke and volunteers are building an eye-catching structure in Menomonee Falls Park for a cause close to Peterke's heart.

"It just kind of touched me and from that point on I was hooked and I was going to do something there," says Peterke.

The group is constructing a latrine or bathroom in the park, to promote and raise funds for an upcoming humanitarian project in Haiti.

"70 percent of Haitians don't even have bathrooms so we feel that building latrines there is going to greatly, greatly help their sanitary conditions and the health of the kids and the families," says Peterke.

For the past 4 years, Peterke has been traveling to Haiti with his mother to volunteer.

Seeing the conditions the people were living in inspired him to help.

"Water borne intestinal diseases like cholera affects 90% of the kids, some of the kids under 7, 7% of them die from the disease," says Peterke.

To try to stop the spread of disease and provide sanitary conditions, Peterke plans to go Haiti to help build 12 latrines.

These are concrete lined pits with an outhouse structure on top.

But the latrines will be more than a bathroom.

"People in Haiti eat all organic matter so because they eat all organic matter that decomposes and becomes fertilizer," says Peterke.

Many of the volunteers like Peterke's mother are excited to help.

"Oh I'm so proud of him, very proud of him," says Peterke's mother Karen Hintz.

By making a statement in Menomonee Falls Park, Peterke hopes others will help him make a difference in lives of those suffering in Haiti.

The Menomonee Falls Rotary Club is holding a fundraiser for this effort.

It's called "laughs for latrines" which includes lunch and a show by ComedySportz on Wednesday, September 25th from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Menomonee Falls.

For more information on tickets or to donate to the cause, CLICK HERE.