Sherburne woman’s sanitation project making a difference in Haiti
NORWICH – It’s a world away, but the tiny nation of Haiti has, sadly, been in the news nearly every day this year.
From the Jan. 12th hurricane that killed more lives than the population of four Chenango Counties, the ensuing cholera epidemic that took 2,323 more and left nearly 104,000 people sick, to the recent violence spurred by controversial political elections, the world has wept for this devastated country in the Caribbean.
The picture painted in the news and on TV often highlights the hundreds of volunteer aids and relief organizations that rushed to Port-au-Prince to erect emergency shelter, provide food, drinking water and medical care, and to clear transportation routes. Their work continues today, even amidst the opposing political parties’ raging fires, tear gas explosions and gun shots.
Amazingly, the story is brought closer to home when learning that one of the organizations making an important contribution to the cause was co-founded by a woman who grew up in Sherburne.
In the heart of the year’s most tragic story is Sasha Kramer, Ph.D., 34 and daughter of Jeffrey and Pat Kramer. She is the executive director of Sustainable Organic Livelihoods, or SOIL, as its called. In one of numerous media accounts about her work, Kramer and SOIL were recently highlighted in an article in The New York Times as offering “a solution” to sanitation needs in Haiti. What’s more, the organization was recently visited by a troupe of filmmakers who are making a documentary due out in early January.
The Chenango County community will have an opportunity to hear Sasha’s first-hand account of the misery of countless thousands of Haitians living in inadequate housing and tent camps and to learn more about her not-for-profit organization at 7 p.m., Monday at the Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich.
Sasha Kramer said her father, who is a retired ophthalmologist, opened her eyes to international work when she accompanied him on medical outreach trips to Brazil and Mexico. While she knew she was destined to become a human rights advocate, she said she had no idea that her work would eventually involve toilets.
In short, what took Kramer to Haiti was the overthrow and forced exile of Haiti’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
“I went to Haiti to see for my own eyes what had happened. I observed a peaceful demonstration, and, while I was there, I fell in love with the country. I came back 12 times during graduate school, and moved after I finished. I got interested in sanitation when not being able to find a toilet,” she said.
In a country with no treated water or sanitation infrastructure, SOIL is able to provide dry composting toilets that turn human waste into fertilizer. The composting kills the cholera bacteria and other pathogens within a few days, and results in desperately needed topsoil and fertilizer to boost agricultural production. SOIL has built more than 200 composting toilets for displacement camps, communities and schools throughout Port Au Prince since the earthquake destroyed the city.
Readers of The Evening Sun followed a weekly account of the medical problems in Haiti earlier this year from Norwich physician, Dr. Tom Holmes, who also made it his mission to volunteer after the earthquake. Holmes described the scene when Kramer’s dry composting toilet was inaugurated in the medical tent camp where he worked:
“It was quite an occasion, including a very nice concert on the basketball court with a couple of locally well-known singers. This was followed by a profusely illustrated G-rated pantomime of how to most appropriately use the new facility. I am sure that many people are familiar with a variety of 12-step programs, but I doubt that many Americans are familiar with the intricate 11-step program for using a dry composting toilet, which was boisterously received by several hundred active participants,” he wrote.
Holmes, who will join Kramer at her presentation in Norwich, said even those who might already know the young woman would be interested in learning more about her work with SOIL.
“SOIL’s point-of-use sanitation technology is playing an increasingly important role in helping that country to deal with the deadly cholera contagion,” he said. “Please come to greet Sasha and hear more about the work of SOIL. If you do not know her, please come to learn more, encourage her, and to send a message of support from our community to the people of Haiti.”
Sasha received her Ph.D. in ecology from Stanford University and completed a postdoctoral research position coordinating an ecological sanitation project in Haiti. In 2006, she and her business partner, Sarah Brownell, co-founded SOIL. The two women initially worked in the northern part of the country, relocating to Port-au-Prince following the January earthquake to assist in relief efforts there. After weeks of distributing emergency aid, they assembled a small staff, opened a SOIL office and partnered with Oxfam GB, a a worldwide leading aid and development charity, to build toilets in the camps.
“Since her program deals with sanitation, the cholera outbreak has meant that they are even busier than they were before,” said her mother, Pat, who noted that reaching her on the telephone or through e-mail often takes several attempts.
The country still doesn’t have enough essential supplies such as chlorine to curtail the outbreak and treatment centers are quickly filling up, or don’t exist at all in many areas. Then there’s the problem of infrastructure, which remains in shambles after the quake. The daily challenge of walking miles to find clean drinking water is less than realistic for most families.
“The real solution is not a quick fix,” Kramer was quoted in one of numerous articles about SOIL. “It’s fixing the sanitation situation in the country in general, which is just going to take some time. There are all sorts of safety measures you can put in place, but as long as there are not enough toilets, [cholera] is going to continue to be a problem.”
A holiday greeting posted on Kramer’s website this week describing how surprisingly thankful she finds herself despite the events of the last year, but also heartbroken to see new tents erected for those sick with cholera.
“Haiti has taught me gratitude in the face of heartbreak. So I ask all of you to be thankful this holiday season and, if you are able, to share your gratitude by contributing to a cause that moves you,” she wrote.
In addition to being inspired by her father, Kramer said the guidance she received from three former Sherburne Central School teachers, Jane Clement, Mary Howes and Rennie Korver, also made a profound impact on her youth.
To learn more about the work of SOIL at their website, www.oursoil.org, and to read Sasha’s recent posting about the current turmoil, check out http://www.counterpunch.com/kramer12092010.html.
From the Jan. 12th hurricane that killed more lives than the population of four Chenango Counties, the ensuing cholera epidemic that took 2,323 more and left nearly 104,000 people sick, to the recent violence spurred by controversial political elections, the world has wept for this devastated country in the Caribbean.
The picture painted in the news and on TV often highlights the hundreds of volunteer aids and relief organizations that rushed to Port-au-Prince to erect emergency shelter, provide food, drinking water and medical care, and to clear transportation routes. Their work continues today, even amidst the opposing political parties’ raging fires, tear gas explosions and gun shots.
Amazingly, the story is brought closer to home when learning that one of the organizations making an important contribution to the cause was co-founded by a woman who grew up in Sherburne.
In the heart of the year’s most tragic story is Sasha Kramer, Ph.D., 34 and daughter of Jeffrey and Pat Kramer. She is the executive director of Sustainable Organic Livelihoods, or SOIL, as its called. In one of numerous media accounts about her work, Kramer and SOIL were recently highlighted in an article in The New York Times as offering “a solution” to sanitation needs in Haiti. What’s more, the organization was recently visited by a troupe of filmmakers who are making a documentary due out in early January.
The Chenango County community will have an opportunity to hear Sasha’s first-hand account of the misery of countless thousands of Haitians living in inadequate housing and tent camps and to learn more about her not-for-profit organization at 7 p.m., Monday at the Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich.
Sasha Kramer said her father, who is a retired ophthalmologist, opened her eyes to international work when she accompanied him on medical outreach trips to Brazil and Mexico. While she knew she was destined to become a human rights advocate, she said she had no idea that her work would eventually involve toilets.
In short, what took Kramer to Haiti was the overthrow and forced exile of Haiti’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
“I went to Haiti to see for my own eyes what had happened. I observed a peaceful demonstration, and, while I was there, I fell in love with the country. I came back 12 times during graduate school, and moved after I finished. I got interested in sanitation when not being able to find a toilet,” she said.
In a country with no treated water or sanitation infrastructure, SOIL is able to provide dry composting toilets that turn human waste into fertilizer. The composting kills the cholera bacteria and other pathogens within a few days, and results in desperately needed topsoil and fertilizer to boost agricultural production. SOIL has built more than 200 composting toilets for displacement camps, communities and schools throughout Port Au Prince since the earthquake destroyed the city.
Readers of The Evening Sun followed a weekly account of the medical problems in Haiti earlier this year from Norwich physician, Dr. Tom Holmes, who also made it his mission to volunteer after the earthquake. Holmes described the scene when Kramer’s dry composting toilet was inaugurated in the medical tent camp where he worked:
“It was quite an occasion, including a very nice concert on the basketball court with a couple of locally well-known singers. This was followed by a profusely illustrated G-rated pantomime of how to most appropriately use the new facility. I am sure that many people are familiar with a variety of 12-step programs, but I doubt that many Americans are familiar with the intricate 11-step program for using a dry composting toilet, which was boisterously received by several hundred active participants,” he wrote.
Holmes, who will join Kramer at her presentation in Norwich, said even those who might already know the young woman would be interested in learning more about her work with SOIL.
“SOIL’s point-of-use sanitation technology is playing an increasingly important role in helping that country to deal with the deadly cholera contagion,” he said. “Please come to greet Sasha and hear more about the work of SOIL. If you do not know her, please come to learn more, encourage her, and to send a message of support from our community to the people of Haiti.”
Sasha received her Ph.D. in ecology from Stanford University and completed a postdoctoral research position coordinating an ecological sanitation project in Haiti. In 2006, she and her business partner, Sarah Brownell, co-founded SOIL. The two women initially worked in the northern part of the country, relocating to Port-au-Prince following the January earthquake to assist in relief efforts there. After weeks of distributing emergency aid, they assembled a small staff, opened a SOIL office and partnered with Oxfam GB, a a worldwide leading aid and development charity, to build toilets in the camps.
“Since her program deals with sanitation, the cholera outbreak has meant that they are even busier than they were before,” said her mother, Pat, who noted that reaching her on the telephone or through e-mail often takes several attempts.
The country still doesn’t have enough essential supplies such as chlorine to curtail the outbreak and treatment centers are quickly filling up, or don’t exist at all in many areas. Then there’s the problem of infrastructure, which remains in shambles after the quake. The daily challenge of walking miles to find clean drinking water is less than realistic for most families.
“The real solution is not a quick fix,” Kramer was quoted in one of numerous articles about SOIL. “It’s fixing the sanitation situation in the country in general, which is just going to take some time. There are all sorts of safety measures you can put in place, but as long as there are not enough toilets, [cholera] is going to continue to be a problem.”
A holiday greeting posted on Kramer’s website this week describing how surprisingly thankful she finds herself despite the events of the last year, but also heartbroken to see new tents erected for those sick with cholera.
“Haiti has taught me gratitude in the face of heartbreak. So I ask all of you to be thankful this holiday season and, if you are able, to share your gratitude by contributing to a cause that moves you,” she wrote.
In addition to being inspired by her father, Kramer said the guidance she received from three former Sherburne Central School teachers, Jane Clement, Mary Howes and Rennie Korver, also made a profound impact on her youth.
To learn more about the work of SOIL at their website, www.oursoil.org, and to read Sasha’s recent posting about the current turmoil, check out http://www.counterpunch.com/kramer12092010.html.
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