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And the light was good: Solar cooking

June 5, 2009

By pwrdf

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Voices of Hope Pew Bulletin Story
Kenya and Tanzania

Gathering firewood, cooking meals, cleaning the house, working in the fields, taking care of children. For women in the global south, there is always more to do. Double that if you are also looking after someone at home with a chronic illness.
In many households in Kenya, it is common for women and girls to spend hours gathering firewood and hauling it home just to get the day’s meals on the table. The need for firewood often keeps girls from attending school. As the trek takes them further and further afield, the journey becomes more dangerous. The trees are being used faster than they can grow again, and the effects of deforestation are already upon them.
PWRDF’s partners in Kenya and Tanzania are having great success with a new initiative that promotes the use of solar cookers. It’s hard to believe that something as simple as sunlight can harness so much potential for change, but cooking with solar power is truly transforming women’s lives. Women are released from the duties of fuel gathering, the expense of buying charcoal and the strain of lifting it. Unlike cooking over a fire, which can require constant supervision, food in a solar cooker is generally not stirred or turned and can be safely left alone. Homes are healthier as well, without the toxic effects of smoke from cooking fires.
Sunlight—it’s natural, it’s plentiful, and it costs nothing to run, thanks be to God.
And the light was good (PDF)

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