What can protect women from attack, protect dwindling forests and create income for refugees?
It’s not a riddle. It’s a summary of the benefits of the Solar Cooker Project.
Today, thousands of Sudanese fleeing the genocide in Darfur are living in refugee camps in Chad. While the camps are relatively safe, once outside the protected area, Janjaweed from Sudan and local men threaten violence.
Women and girls are responsible for finding firewood. Overharvesting and drought mean they must go ever farther to find wood — increasing their vulnerability to rape and savagery.
Solar cookers are relatively simple tools made of cardboard and foil. They capture the sun’s warmth — bringing water to 100 degrees Centrigrade. That’s more than hot enough to sterilize water and prevent disease. They also can help women cook the traditional foods for the region, like rice, macaroni, porridge, millet, tea and meat.
According to Jewish World Watch, sponsor of the Solar Cooker Project, two solar cookers can save one ton of wood each year.
To introduce solar cookers into the camps, the organization starts with camp elders — to help them understand the program’s benefits and develop their support. Once the elders are in favor, they work together to develop a manufacturing plant within the camp. Female refugees receive training in assembling the cookers, providing an income source for their families.
Eventually, everyone in the camp gets training in solar cooking, and the organization sets up maintenance and replacement programs.
To see and hear how solar cooking makes a difference, watch this short video on the Solar Cooking Project site.
So far, all the families in two refugee camps — totaling about 50,000 people — have received solar cookers. Jewish World Watch adopted a third camp in February of this year and currently is training 800 women each month in the use of these cookers.
But there’s a long way to go. Chad is home to nine more refugee camps, and the organization’s goal is to provide solar cookers for all the residents in all the camps.
It’s hard to imagine a more practical, low-cost solution to so many serious problems than this amazing project. A contribution of $30 buys two solar cookers. An entire manufacturing plant only costs $50,000.
Ready to help? Visit the Web site to make a contribution. And pass these links on to your friends.
In Chad, hope comes from the sun.
This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.