Fuel Effecient Stove Installed

This past week, the first fuel efficient stove was installed at Ngeya Primary School. The first goal was to build the kitchen which was complete a few weeks ago. The women who prepare the lunch daily for the students used traditional methods of large pots on top of stones. They simply fed wood under the pot to boil the corn and beans. This is extremely inefficient in the amount of wood used. Also, as we all know from camping, the fire gives off a huge amount of smoke that fills the room. The women are constantly wiping their eyes and coughing. In addition, de-forestation is a major Kenyan issue. 70% of the countries forests are gone due to the need for firewood. So reducing the use of wood at Ngeya also impacts the environment. Another bonus is the school currently spends 5000 ksh $65 a week on firewood. For any school it's a huge amount. To this government school that is SEVERLY underfunded, it nearly breaks their back monthly. So reducing the amount of fuel reducing the investment.

Our third team arrived a week ago from Kansas. One of the projects they are part of is the purchase of a very large, 500 ltr., fuel efficient stove. It has been installed and just about to be put into use. We are waiting for concrete to fully dry. I have included a few pics of the old way the women cooked and the new stove. Also, a few pictures of the kids lining up daily for food. When the whole school comes out for lunch it's impressive. Over 1200 kids waiting patiently for food. Right now they serve food outside on the ground. But the next move for us when the stove is working is to purchase large tables so all food can be served through the windows to the students. Need to get the food off the ground.

How does the stove work? First it's built with a layer of brick and covered on the inside with concrete. The outside is covered in a layer tin. This insulates almost all the heat inside the stove. If you walk up to the stove and touch the tin when it's boiling water it's cool to the touch. Wood is fed through the the square opening and the large pot sits perfectly down through the hole. This allows no heat or smoke to escape through the sides of the pot or stove. What cannot be seen from the pictures is out the back of the stove is an opening that has a large tin pipe going out the back wall. This takes a quick L bend towards the roof and the exit of the smoke is many feet above the roof. This allows an escape for the build up of smoke within the stove and eliminates any smoke in the room. No coughing or teary eyes for the cooks. A stove like this this will easily reduce wood use by 60-70%. Because it's so effecient in keeping heat in, it will boil a large pot in a fraction of the time it takes for a normal fire.

Thank you to the Kansas team for working so hard to raise money for Maai Mahiu. This stove will be a huge help to Ngeya and Kenya for that matter. Not only do we affect the local community but we help eleviate a Kenyan problem, de-forestation. Without you CTC could not have completed this project.