40 results for author: Sasha Kramer
Huffington Post: Shining the Spotlight on Sanitation
By Sasha Kramer, SOIL in the Huffington Post, April 22, 2014 Gone are the days of sanitation languishing in the shadows while other basic human needs take the spotlight. In the past decade, the topic of sanitation has emerged from back-room discussions among engineers at water conferences to a high-level, global dialogue among activists, celebrities and philanthropists. One of the drivers for this increased interest in sanitation is the celebrity draw, but what is it that drew the celebrities, and what keeps them interested? Many have come to the table through the obvious connection between sanitation and public health. According to the Bill ...
World Economic Forum Blog: Why Social Entrepreneurs See the Opportunity in Waste
By Sasha Kramer, SOIL for the World Economic Forum Blog. Gone are the days of sanitation languishing in the shadows while other basic human needs take the spotlight. In the past decade, the topic of sanitation has emerged from backroom discussions among engineers at water conferences to a high-level, global dialogue among activists, celebrities and philanthropists. Many have come to the table through the obvious connection between sanitation and public health. According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, over 1.5 million children die from diarrheal diseases each year due to lack of sanitation. Today’s generation of advocates is ...
Food Tank: Food Hero: Sasha Kramer, How SOIL Works at the Nexus of Human Rights and Ecology
By Sasha Kramer, in Food Tank, March 16, 2014 Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is an organization based in Haiti that was founded in 2006 with a mission of ensuring nutrients for all through the transformation of wastes into resources, or more precisely by turning poop into soil. We believe that the key to equitable access to nutrients, in a world filled with inequality, is to empower communities to harness the power of ecological processes to transform a dangerous pollutant into a valuable resource. SOIL was founded on the philosophy of liberation ecology: every human being has the right to health and happiness and waste does ...
January 2014 Newsletter: Resilient as the Soil
This is a land
so vibrant and alive
that laugher will come bursting through
as imperious as the sun
and the spirit will survive
resilient as the soil.
- Dennis Brutus 1978 ”Love; the Struggle”
Dennis Brutus, a visionary poet and courageous activist, was also a founding member of the SOIL advisory board. Dennis’ lifetime struggle for justice inspired SOIL’s philosophy of liberation ecology and I often look to his writings for guidance. While reflecting on the 4th anniversary of Haiti’s earthquake, I remembered Dennis’ poem, Love; the Struggle. Although the words above were written for South Africa in 1978, this poem could just as ...
SOIL’s Regional Director Moves Into a Compost Bin!
That’s right, our beloved Regional Director, Theo Huitema, has now officially become a shining example of our organizational mission to transform wastes into resources by building his home inside our old compost bins in Limonade, northern Haiti. In January 2012, the mayor of Limonade asked SOIL to relocate our northern Haiti compost site in accordance with a new plan for the development of the region. Although it was sad to leave behind our beautiful new compost bins, which had only been used for 4 months, we gladly obliged and have since established a new compost site on government land in the officially sanctioned waste treatment area. Not ...
Haiti's First Sustainable Sanitation Conference Off to a Great Start!
(Li vèsyon kreyòl la anba a) Thank you all for being here today. It is a pleasure to see so many people interested in sustainable sanitation. Many of us have shared this dream for some time, organizing a space where we can come together and share our experiences. I want to thank everyone who has helped to make this dream possible, from the organizers to the presenters to the community members who have come to share their perspectives. Thank you to DINEPA for participating in this conference, especially Edwige Petit, Sanitation Director for DINEPA, who will start the conference off. Thank you to all of the people that participated in the Ecological ...
Bobo's amazing homecoming!
At long last Bobo arrived home in Haiti today and was received by the entire SOIL team at the airport, complete with loud instruments and dozens of Haitian flags. He looked as fresh as a spring day, don’t know how he did it after such a long flight, maybe it was just the relief of finally being home that somehow miraculously pressed his shirt. We are eternally grateful to everyone who stepped in to help SOIL and Bobo during this difficult time. Everyone can break out the champagne now and start enjoying the weekend. Bobo is back on Haitian soil!!!!! Lakay se lakay. We apologize for not having more images to share. We were all just ...
Wrapping up the Toilet Tour in Nairobi, Kenya
Co-written by Anthony Kilbride and Sasha Kramer For the complete photo set check out SOIL's Flickr page Last stop on the toilet tour Nairobi, Kenya Our last stop on the toilet tour was Nairobi Kenya where we would spend 4 days visiting some well known urban sanitation projects that we have been fascinated with for some time. SOIL’s primary work in Haiti focuses on sanitation solutions for densely populated impoverished neighborhoods, one of the most challenging situations facing humanity today. Each year millions of people flood into cities searching for life, or 'chache lavi' as they say in Haiti. In places like Haiti, where there is little ...
Bobo Got a US Transit Visa!!!!
Great news! Bobo has in hand his US transit visa good for transiting through the US for the next 5 years (if he ever wants to travel again after this experience)! This means that Bobo will be able to make his fourth attempt to return home to Haiti tomorrow afternoon. His flight will once again take him through Nigeria, followed by Ghana and then through JFK on Friday morning and back to Haiti by Friday at 1 pm EST. The whole SOIL team will be at the airport with bells and whistles and the fully decorated poopmobile! We will be sure to post a video to our Facebook page of his grand entry. For those of you who have been crossing fingers and ...
Bobo back in Cotonou… again
Dear Friends and Supporters, I wanted to write to share an update with those of you who have been following Bobo’s situation as he tries to get back to Haiti from Benin. As some of you may have seen from our Facebook page, Bobo made it to Nigeria only to be returned once again to Cotonou as he did not have the appropriate transit visa for the US. We were informed by the travel agency that he would not need a transit visa as his stay in JFK was only two hours but learned that we were mistaken and he does indeed need to obtain a transit visa, even for such a short stay within the airport. Sadly, Bobo did have to spend yet another night in an ...