Ron Rivera, 60, died on 3 September 2008 in Nicaragua from a particularly lethal form of malaria (caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum) he contracted while in Nigeria helping locals in their quest for clean drinking water.
Rivera, a former Peace Corps volunteer (Panama) born in the Bronx of Puerto Rican parents, spent the last 25 years traveling to Asia, Latin America, and Africa, teaching locals how to throw ceramic pots that would transform dirty water into its potable counterpart.
The pots, with their small pores and silver lining, would eliminate such pathogens as E. coli, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. They dramatically lowered the incidence of waterborne diseases.
He liked to call the pots "weapons of biological mass destruction."
He did not invent the pots - that was done by a Guatemalan chemist, Fernando Mazariegos, but Rivera improved the manufacturing of the pots to ensure a standardized, more effective product.
Rivera's forte was in training and organizing people and establishing microenterprises to produce the pots. He had established 30 such facilities, which have produced about 300,000 filters ($5 to $25 each) used by about 1.5 million people.
He said his goal was to open 100 such facilities. Thirteen more will open by the end of 2009.
Rivera is most often associated with Potters For Peace, an organization he did not found, although it is safe to say that PFP as it exists today is largely due to his efforts. He joined them after Hurricane Mitch trashed Central America in 1998, and the rest is history.
I remember hearing of Rivera's work in the early 2000s. While on a trip to Nicaragua I had an opportunity to see a pot-making operation. I missed Rivera by a couple of days. He had gone off to train some more people to address their own potable water needs.
Read the PFP memorial to Rivera, and the blog established by the Canadian group Potters Without Borders, where you can express your feelings about Ron, his life, and his work.
Here is his obituary from the 14 September 2008 New York Times.
Quite a remarkable man, one who made a difference, and will continue to do so, even in death.
“I saw Ron as a Pied Piper. He had the capacity to draw people in and then give them the means to accomplish something.” -- Robert Pillers, Treasurer, Potters For Peace (quoted in the NYT obituary)
Ron Rivera also showed that education is the only weapon to help solve water problems. He co-authored a paper while in Nigeria with several other, The paper is
Plappally, A., Chen, H., Ayinde, W., Alayande, S., Usoro, A. Friedman, K C. Dare, E., Ogunyale, T., Yakub, I., Leftwich, M., Malatesta, K., Rivera, R., Brown, L., Soboyejo, A., Soboyejo, W 2011. A Field Study on the Use of Clay Ceramic Water Filters and Influences on the General Health in Nigeria. Journal of Health Behavior and Public Health 1(1), March 2011.
The URL for the paper is
http://www.asciencejournal.net/asj/index.php/HBPH/article/view/109
Posted by: Li Peng | Tuesday, 21 June 2011 at 09:41 AM