Vintage DB 106: Sasha Kramer’s “The Philosophical Roots of SOIL’s Waste Transformation Work in Haiti,” DB 16
Showcasing the literary diversity of our journal today is a nonfiction piece of a very different nature: an article explaining the thought behind the work of SOIL, a non-profit organization in Haiti that has been human waste into nutrient-rich compost for more than 10 years. Written by the organization’s co-founder, Sasha Kramer, this article was published in our Autumn 2012 issue, DB 16, and very rightfully in our “Exploration” folio, which highlights the feats of people we consider “explorers” and ponders how we love to live vicariously through them. Take a moment this #ThrowbackThursday to dig into the philosophy of this amazing group of people doing a remarkable amount of good, and maybe you’ll even feel inspired to do some good of your own.
“Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a non-profit organization that focuses on the transformation of wastes to resources in in Haiti. SOIL’s projects are primarily sanitation-based, but the philosophical roots of SOIL’s work go far deeper than toilets alone. This article by SOIL’s co-founder, provides a brief interpretive overview of liberation ecology, and explores the ways in which this ethic has been used to inform the organization’s emergency and development work in Haiti.”
Dr. Sasha Kramer is an ecologist and human rights advocate who has been living and working in Haiti since 2004. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology from Stanford University in 2006 and co-founded SOIL that same year while also completing a postdoctoral research position with the Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects at Stanford. While Sasha spends the majority of her time living and working in Haiti, she is also a global advocate for the recycling of nutrients in human waste, helping others implement sustainable sanitation projects and inspiring people around the world to participate in the sanitation revolution. Sasha is an Adjunct Professor of International Studies and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami. She is also a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, an Architect of the Future with the Waldzell Institute, and 2014 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Learn more about Dr. Kramer and the work of SOIL here.
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