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This project will provide materials for 500 families to make durable solar cookers in Gulu, Uganda--the hometown of Club 33 member Walter Lam. The project is is aligned with all of Rotary International's areas of focus, and will be completed this Rotary Year 2013-2014. This project builds on last year's Project P-153 by the San Diego Coastal Rotary Club (with support from San Diego Club 33), which provided 291 durable solar cookers for distribution by the Nairobi Mashariki Rotary Club. Those cookers are made from the same materials that will be used in this grant, and have been enthusiastically received in Kenya.
Cooker materials:
Club 33 member Roger Haines has shown that solar panel cookers of many different designs--including the popular cardboard-and-foil "CooKit" and Roger's own "double curve design--can be made more easily and at lower cost out of reflective bubble insulation. In addition, Roger has shown that the much-despised "turkey cooking bag" (which insulates the cooking pot from the surrounding air) can be replaced by a 6" x 36" x.020" rectangle of UV-stabilized polycarbonate plastic film rolled into a cylindrical "cooking sleeve." The sleeve makes solar cooking much more convenient, and--unlike the bags--never needs cleaning or replacement.
A Nairobi building supply company, Global Hardware, has agreed to import a container load of reflective bubble insulation, and offer it for sale "at cost" in Nairobi for solar cooking. We will to buy materials for 500 cookers from Global Hardware in Nairobi, and ship them by truck to Gulu, Uganda. We conservatively estimate that the cost including shipping will be under $5 USD for a 4-foot-square of material to make one cooker.
Lexan 8030 polycarbonate sleeves are available in the U.S. from Sabic Plastics for $1.33 per sleeve. After shipping to Gulu, the cost per sleeve will likely be $2 USD per sleeve.
This project will purchase these materials and deliver them to the Gulu Rotary Club, which will work with solar cooking experts and pay trainers to train the recipients in how to make and use the cookers. Roger's "double curve" design requires only three straight cuts with scissors, and four Velcro dots. The polycarbonate sleeve requires only rolling the rectangle into a cylinder and securing it with paper clips.
The cost per cooker will be as follows:
Reflective bubble material: $5
Polycarbonate rectangle: 2
Cooking pot 2.50
Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI) .30
Velcro dots and paper clips .20
Training 2.00
Total cost per cooker: $12.00
Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution
Gulu, Uganda has suffered for many years from civil war between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army, with widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, child-sex slavery and forcing children to participate in hostilities. The LRA has now been forced out of the area, but the victims still suffer from the aftermath. This project will aid in reconciliation and recovery by reducing the need for families to send their children out to collect firewood, and by easing tension with neighbors who compete for scarce firewood for fuel.
Disease Prevention and Treatment/Water and Sanitation
Because solar cookers have no fuel costs, they can be used to pasteurize large amounts of water during the day. This project will provide each family with a reusable Water Purification Indicator (WAPI) that shows when water has reached pasteurization temperature (160 degrees Fahrenheit). Using pasteurized water reduces waterborne diseases. Solar cooking also eliminates the smoke from indoor cooking—a leading cause of lung cancer and asthma in women and children in Africa.
Maternal and Child Health/Basic Education and Literacy
Solar cooking eliminates the burns that many African children suffer from cooking fires every year. Vegetables cook without water, so more nutrients are retained. High protein foods that require longer cooking times, such as legumes and whole grains, can be cooked with no increased fuel costs. Solar cooked food never burns, so it need not be watched or stirred. This frees women and children to pursue other activities while the food is cooking. Because less time is necessary to collect firewood, children can go to school, and women can engage in more productive activities.
Economic and Community Development
Solar cooking can cut a family's fuel bill in half. In addition, solar cookers can generate income when used to bake bread or cakes for sale. Moreover, the establishment of an inexpensive wholesale source of materials to make solar cookers will make it possible for entrepreneurs to create businesses making and selling solar cookers. Microcredit loans would be perfect for purchasing low cost solar cooker materials.
Partnerships:
Our partner in this project is the Rotary Club of Gulu, Uganda, with which we have strong contacts through Club 33 member Walter Lam.
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