One of the Gold Standard projects our customers have helped to support is in the Kisumu District of Kenya.
Delivering an efficient carbon reduction project is just the start of the process. Education in the community is a key part of the co2balance strategy for success
Living and working within the communities our education officers help to coach the householders to get the very best out of their new efficient stoves. co2balance education liaison officer, Wycliffe Churchill Odumo talks to some of the residents of Eastern Kisumu, a busy project area in the West of Kenya, about their experiences with the new stove. In their own words they explain the impact this project has had on their lives.
Quotes from: Lillian Akoth Opiyo, Philgona Akinyi, Agnes Akinyi and Alice Awino Otieno. Residents of the project area in Kisumu West.
Lillian: “I’m a mother of five school-going children of which four are day scholars in nearby primary schools. One is in a boarding secondary school. I stay with two other female relatives and everyone in this household has learned to operate and cook on the good stove because it is effortless to light, smoke free and saves fuel. Before the project began in this area, I had sleepless nights particularly during rainy seasons thinking hard on where to get good cooking wood fuel for in this community it is highly priced and hard to come by. There are no free or communal fuel collection points and this means that collecting even a dry twig along the neighbors’ fence can create a serious conflict”.
Alice: “There isn’t just enough fuel out there. I have to say that the stove has helped us to utilize every little available fuel. I value it so much because it meets my cooking needs and is suitable for use even with fuel from the shamba(farm). We were trained on the cooking process which enabled us to use sources of fuel such as dry maize stalks and maize cobs from our farms. Nowadays, whenever we harvest, we dry and keep them back. The stove works well with them. I am happy to say that never before had I seen a project done in a free and fair manner like this, we accept it and are proud to have been selected as beneficiaries. We wish that everyone benefits”.
Lillian: “Previously, with the three stone stove, I got reluctant to cook some meals because the quantity of fuel I had was scanty. Now I’m not worried because with just three to four pieces of medium sized fire wood, I am sure of cooking entire meal”.
Philgona: “This stove is decent and pleasant to cook on and members of this household have learned how to operate it. Imagine (cites her siblings name) Agnes and Catherine too know how to cook on it as I do”.
Catherine: “I’m not worried of bathing with cold water today. Neither a
m I worried of drinking non-boiled water. I’m the one who boils drinking water for this home.”
Alice: “I also don’t want to waste fuel so I follow the cooking manual that I was given. It has been handy in organizing my cooking sessions so that I get optimum value of time I spent searching fuel and is indispensable”.
Lillian: “The success of CZ stove in this household began with the c
hallenge we were facing on fuel. Once I received it, I realized that it is decent, efficient and fuel effective. It meets my expectations in the kitchen in terms of cooking. No more haphazard use of fuel. I also experience less chest problems such coughing and eye irritations”.
