Last week's post focused on recovering from the shock of being laid off. It can be tough to get through, but if you don't have other people depending on you for financial support, there's another way of holding this: You have just been liberated!

"The experts" anticipate our country will start to get back on track financially by the last quarter of this year, but caution that it took a long time to get into this mess, and getting out won't be quick. Could the next year or two be your golden opportunity to step out of the rat race, have an adventure, and use your time and energy to help create a better world?

Sasha Kramer and Sarah Brownell, two clever activists with degrees from Stanford and Berkeley respectively, have made it their mission to help improve life on the island of Haiti, where life expectancy is just 53 years (whew, there go all the Boomers!). Despite being an agricultural country with a nurturing climate, the country imports more than half of its food supply, and although two-thirds of workers are involved in agricultural production, 80 percent of the farmers can't even satisfy their own families' basic food needs.

One of the main reasons for this shortage is the dearth of nutrients in the overworked soil, and lack of funds to purchase more. Rather than just donate aid, Soil, the nonprofit these women founded, is addressing several distinct yet interwoven problems by building composting toilets: poor sanitation, unemployment and malnutrition.

With good sanitation (currently present in just 16 percent of the country), diseases like malaria are curbed and water supplies are clean. Clean water is essential not only for drinking, but also to keep fish populations thriving.

People are employed in building and maintaining the composting toilets.

And here's my favorite part of this whole project. The people all feel empowered by being able to make a simple contribution with their body wastes, which are then composted over a year's time to become nitrogen-rich soil amendments. Talk about sitting down on the job! Since food has to go into the human body in order for something to come out, a beautiful cycle is set up. Fertilize fields, grow crops, eat dinner, take a dump, fertilize fields.

Haiti is just one small, struggling country. There are many places and organizations that would love to have your help. Maybe this is the year to put the Manolos and Ed Hardys in the back of the closet, jump into some comfy jeans, and have an adventure.