Earth Day-Any Day

Earth Day-Any Day

San Francisco Earth Day

Megan and Deja at SaniSalud's Booth

 On Saturday April 19th Electronic Music Alliance and Earth Day SF co-produced an Earth Day street festival called Planet Dance. SaniSalud joined various corporations, businesses, NGOs, and volunteers in the plaza area of City Hall to celebrate the Earth.  Our booth, outfitted with handmade signage by

Deja Kirwood, our resident artist, was near the main stage that featured SaniSalud’s very own DJ Mike Teez. Although we aim to improve Nicaraguan slums, it is part of our mission to spread scientific knowledge and build capacity in the U.S. despite the drastic differences in sanitation. SaniSalud was the only organization at the event advocating for improved access to safe, adequate sanitation for our fellow earthlings. In the United States, we have the luxury of being able to use a porta potty at public events, like Earth Day, and don’t often have to think about where to go. In other places, toilets are not available and free flowing human waste contaminates water sources and leads to deaths of children and environmental degradation. Its time to include sanitation as a focus of mainstream environmental advocacy. We must not forget about the  2.2 million people that die from disease related to poor sanitation—an afflicting large then AIDs, Tuberculosis, and malaria. An injustice to one is an injustice to all.

Human excrement is the only natural byproduct of living so it is commonly viewed as waste. While speaking with event goers we tried to re-frame the conversation and show to them that human waste is a valuable resource that can be converted to nutrient rich soil. Human excrement is one of the natural threads that links us to every human being that has ever been on this planet as well as connecting us with many animal, insects, and other species on Earth.  Human waste removal has been ongoing for centuries but we are lead to believe that it requires a highly technical, infrastructure reliant process. This is not true, and does not fit all resource strapped regions like slums, where resources are scarce. By using the eco-san model, we are not introducing a product when we facilitate latrines building we are actually regressing back to nature that relies on microbes and natural processes to break down fecal matter in a way that protects the environment and reduces human health risks. The environment needs protection now and humans need to act and support global sanitation initiatives like Sanisalud; We should act like earth day is every day.

 -Posted By Megan Rose Maurino

Give A Crap Fundraiser, La Peña Cultural Center

"What would you do if you could not use the restroom for the remainder of the day?"

This was a thought-provoking question posed by Dr. Charlotte Smith Ph.D, professor and water quality specialist during the panel portion of the Sanisalud Community Art Fair hosted on March 2^nd at La Pena Cultural Center.  Smith was joined by Aillen Suzara, chef and environmental educator, and Nikolas Wulff Bertulis, activist and professor of Urban Studies and Design. The discussion highlighted the inextricable link between sanitation and food security, as well as the importance of agriculture and food security and female involvement in community driven sanitation projects.

With the scent of fresh Filipino adobo filling the air and the acoustics of John Henry & Friends lingering in the atmosphere, good friends, professionals, and artists from around the Bay Area gathered in La Pena cultural center for an evening of delicious food, wonderful music, and amazing art.

For those of you who came out to support, we cannot thank you enough. If you were unable to make it and still want to show that you Give a Crap you can donate online at donate here.

Please stay tuned for our next upcoming event!  

'''

Berkeley Fundraiser March 2 2014

Construction of Pilot Latrines Finishes!

July 28, 2012

Here is an update from our in country coordinator Geovanni Mendoza:

All of the construction is done! We were worried that the rain would hold us back and prevent us from finishing everyone's latrine on schedule, but everyone in the community worked really hard to help make it happen and we finished the remaining three latrines in one week. Everyone was in high spirits and it was a wonderful experience this cooperation and embodiment of community in Monte Fresco.

and now,  the brand spankin new toilets:

Latrine Design

Here is a closer look at the latrines we are building in Monte Fresco. Thank you to El Porvenir (www.elporvenir.org) for sharing these plans and supporting our project in many other ways!

The key to this design is the double vault system. Currently, many residents of Monte Fresco lack any type of sanitary facility. The latrines that do exist in the community are single vault pit latrines. For the  typical large family in Nicaragua, traditional pit latrines fill quickly and families are forced to construct new ones without the materials or expertise to do so. What results are non functional haphazardly constructed latrines that leak, break, and overflow.  These latrines are incredibly dangerous to the community and environment. They are subject to sudden collapse and allow for the easy spread of pathogens by leaking into drinking water sources and overflowing into the community streets during the rainy season. In the double pit design, when one pit vault fills up, a concrete cover is used to seal the hole while the housing structure and toilet seat are switched to the other vacant side available for use. The waste in the first pit is left sitting and in time, the pathogens are inactivated and the dangerous poop is eventually turned into useable and valuable compost! This process can continue indefinitely so long as people take care of their latrines! That is where our education team, a group from the local Ministry of Health, comes in. 

The people in the community are very open to this new technology and are excited at the potential to use the compost to grow crops and start a community garden. Monte Fresco is a peri urban area outside of the city. It is not considered rural and there is no agricultural sector, but there is certainly the space! Sanitation can and will transform communities entirely. From sanitation to agriculture, Viva la revolucion!

Construction begins!

Here is an update from Geovanni Mendoza, the onsite project manager:

Today we are working on building the latrines, the people of Monte
Fresco are really happy and working together.

I'm sending some photos of the process. They will be working during the weekend because they really care about this, and they are aware that winter is approaching.

Everything is great.

Community Art Fair

Everybody Bikes 

San Francisco

2.18.12