August 2008
Volume 14, Numbe
r 2
Paper Circulation: 12,000 – Online hits:  Hit Counter

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In this Issue:
 
Dr. Metcalf explains Petrifilm™ test resultsSCI's Dr. Bob Metcalf explains Petrifilm™ water-quality test results to workshop participants in Kenya.

News you send

[Editor's note: "News you send" is compiled by Tom Sponheim and Kevin Porter, Solar Cookers International's information exchange specialist. E-mail your news items to info@solarcookers.org or send postal mail to Kevin Porter, Solar Cookers International, 1919 21st Street #101, Sacramento, California 95811-6827, USA. We want to hear from you — especially if your program is growing or if your work has not been featured in the Solar Cooker Review before. Please include your contact information. Submissions are subject to editing if printed.]

AFRICA

The Gambia / United States

The nongovernmental organization Adventures in Health, Education, and Agricultural Development (AHEAD) recently conducted solar cooking trainings in five villages in The Gambia and plans to expand this summer. Malcolm Gee led workshops to train 12-15 women per village in the construction and use of panel-type solar cookers. Eighty women were trained, who in turn will train others. The women cooked meals of fish, rice, and vegetables in the cookers, and are experimenting with other traditional dishes. They have formed a trainers’ cooperative called Tilo Tabiro. Contact: Malcolm Gee, Program Coordinator, AHEAD, Inc., PO Box 2049, Rockville, Maryland 20847, USA. E-mail: mgee@starpower.org, Web: www.aheadinc.org; Lamin Sawo, Project Coordinator, PO Box 4628, Bakau, The Gambia. Tel: (00220) 7788665/6988665/9957239, e-mail: lfsawo@hotmail.com

ASIA AND OCEANIA

Australia

Last year’s winning solar oven designAlice Springs, located in central Australia, will host its second annual Solar Oven Bakeoff on September 20, 2008, as part of the Alice Desert Festival at the Olive Pink Botanic Garden. All are welcome to join in the fun and compete for the Green Spoon Trophy. Oven design and use of local bush foods are two of the award categories. Last year’s recipes included an Australian Quandong dish and a cacciatore. Respected food writer and cook Stephanie Alexander is among the judges. Alice Springs has on average 300 sunny days per year, and recently became one of five communities participating in the government’s Solar Cities program. Contact: Kat Taylor, project manager, Desert Knowledge Australia COOLmob, Arid Lands Environment Centre, PO Box 2796, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 0871, Australia. E-mail: dka.coolmob@coolmob.org, Web: www.dkacoolmob.org

China / United States

U.S.-based humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International (OBI) is helping villagers in remote, barren regions of China’s Gansu Province to cook with solar energy. In 2007 OBI distributed 582 concentrator-type solar cookers at a cost of about $50 each. The cookers are made of a concave concrete shell lined with small mirror pieces that reflect sunlight under a cooking vessel, which sits on a metal support above the reflectors. According to OBI’s newsletter Blessings, the solar cookers are used to cook local crops like potatoes and wheat. “With a solar oven in the yard, villagers do not need to spend time collecting sticks or wood in order to boil water or cook potatoes,” said Dr. Ma Yan, OBI’s Gansu director. “Farmers still have to buy coal for heat and cooking, but a solar oven reduces the quantity of burning sticks, grass and wood that are very precious in the droughticken mountain areas.” Contact: Operation Blessing International, 977 Centerville Turnpike, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23463, USA. Tel: (800) 730-2537, Web: www.ob.org

Heifer China has begun distributing similar concentrator-type solar cookers in China, primarily in sunny Qinghai Province. A recent article in Heifer International’s World Ark magazine states that the solar cookers are “geared toward reducing reliance on firewood and preserving the pristine headwaters of many of Asia’s largest rivers. ... [They also] offer a clean alternative to fire pits and traditional stoves.” Contact: Austin Gelder, Associate Editor, World Ark, 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202, USA. E-mail: austin.gelder@heifer.org

India

Dr. Satyapriya Mukhopadhyay, author of the book “Solar Cookere Ranna” and an international adviser to Solar Cookers International, conducted a solar cooker demonstration and seminar on solar cooking and its usefulness at Srikrishna College in March. The awareness-generation program was organized by National Service Scheme (NSS) of Srikrishna College unit. In attendance were nearly 250 students, as well as all college staff and a significant number of local community members. Mukhopadhyay, with the help of NSS program officers and volunteers, used a variety of solar cookers to cook several solar dishes: rice, mutton curry, spicy onion fish, tomato sauce, cazu nut, Indian porridge, dal, and boiled eggs. Shri Arun Kanti Saha, ex-principal and head of mathematics, and Dr. Sankar Prasad Dey, post-doctoral fellow and head of chemistry, delivered lectures on solar concentrating systems and their domestic and industrial uses. According to Dey, “The local participants and students became highly encouraged and showed their interest for generating awareness about solar cooking among the local people. After the completion of this program, organizations … are frequently requesting to Dr. Mukhopadhyay for conduction such program so that they can adopt the technique for cooking their daily foods. From discussions with local people, it is obvious that the program will go a long way towards creation of awareness of the villagers.” Contact: Dr. Sankar Prasad Dey, PhD, program officer, NSS Srikrishna College Unit, head of the department of chemistry, Srikrishna College, Bagula - 741 502, Nadia, West Bengal, India.

Under the brand name SuryaKiran, Universal Engineers Enterprise has manufactured approximately 15,000 box-type solar cookers for various governmental nodal agencies and private sector clients in India since 1996, according to the company’s Chief Manager Neeraj Kumar Garg. The box cookers are tested, approved and certified by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and carry the Bureau of Indian Standards ISI mark. They are constructed with fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) or aluminum bodies, and have a solar-electric hybrid option. Universal Engineers Enterprise also sells parabolic-type solar cookers, along with a variety of solar lighting and water heating systems. Contact: Neeraj Kumar Garg, Chief Manager, Universal Engineers Enterprise, Garg Bhawan, Prince Road - 3, Gandhi Nagar, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh 244001, India. Tel: 91-591-3294582.

India’s northern state of Haryana won a nation award for its 2002-2007 solar cooker program. The honor was presented to the Department of Renewable Energy and the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony in New Delhi last November. HAREDA promotes solar cookers statewide and provides subsidies to women wishing to purchase solar cookers. Concentrator-type (or dish-type) solar cookers with a diameter of 1.4 meters retail for approximately 5,100 Rupees (Rs), but are available for 2,100 Rs after combined subsidies from national and state agencies. Solar box cookers sell for approximately 1,800 Rs, and are available for 1,300 Rs after subsidies. According to PunjabNewsline.com, 6,329 dish-type and 1,983 box-type solar cookers were distributed in Haryana during the five year period. Reports by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) show a total of 70,978 solar cookers distributed across India during that time period. For more information about the solar cooker program in Haryana visit www.hareda.gov.in/thermal.htm.

LATIN AMERICA AND IBERIA

Argentina / Germany

For many years, Fundacion EcoAndina has promoted the concept of solar villages in Jujuy province. Among its accomplishments is the distribution of over 250 solar cookers for family use, 23 solar kitchens for community use, and a number of solar water heating and irrigation devices. Fundacion EcoAndina recently partnered with WISIONS, an initiative of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, to “develop a strategy for the optimal use of carbon credits to make solar equipment affordable for the users.” The initial step is to use new technology to monitor 50 solar cookers in a field test and assess their CO2 reductions. According to its Web site, Fundacion EcoAndina hopes to “develop local human capacity to handle the carbon market,” and to “build an effective incentive structure for the correct and constant use of solar applications.” Contact: EcoAndina Argentina, Enrique Romero N°43, Villa Jardín de Reyes, San Salvador de Jujuy, Casilla de Correo: 10, Argentina. Tel: 0388-4922275, fax: 0388-4261229, e-mail: ecoandinapuna@yahoo.com.ar, Web: www.ecoandina.org; Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Doeppersberg 19, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany. Tel: + 49 (0) 202 2492 252, fax: + 49 (0) 202 2492 198, e-mail: info@wisions.net, Web: www.wisions.net

Nicaragua / United States

Wendell and Sammie Rickon of Mendocino, California (USA) have experimented with a number of solar cookers since being reintroduced to the concept in the summer of 2006. Later that same year they ordered a solar CooKit and some literature from Solar Cookers International (SCI), joined the organization, and learned much more about the usefulness of solar cookers on a global scale. After many successful solar meals, and a few failures, the Rickons were confident that they could solar cook most of the non-fried foods in their diet. Their thoughts turned to the community of Ciudad Dario, Nicaragua where their son directs Seeds of Learning (SOL), a small nonprofit educational organization. The Rickons asked if he could incorporate a solar cooking component into his work at SOL. He challenged them to write a project proposal, secure funding, and volunteer some of their own time to get a project going. They met his challenge, and spent much of 2007 gathering training materials from SCI, building solar cookers, and, of course, cooking! In November 2007 the Rickons packed a supply of aluminum foil and transparent oven roasting bags and headed for Nicaragua. Upon arriving in Ciudad Dario, the Rickons promoted solar cookers to anyone who seemed interested, including family members, friends, SOL staff, and Peace Corps volunteers. They conducted a number of small workshops, during which participants learned to make and use solar CooKits and sampled solar dishes such as beans, rice, squash and chocolate chip cookies. In all, the Rickons taught 48 people, including several SOL staff members and two university students that agreed to continue the project with the support and assistance of SOL. Contact: Wendell and Sammie Rickon, 39501 Comptche-Ukiah Road, Mendocino, California 95460, USA.

Portugal

Celestino Rodrigues RuivoSince becoming “well contaminated with the virus of solar cooking” at the 2006 International Solar Cookers Conference in Spain, professor Celestino Rodrigues Ruivo has become an important advocate for solar cooking in Portugal and beyond. Ruivo credits Pedro Serrano, of Chile’s Red de Cocinas Solares de Latinoamerica (RECOSOL), and others for helping him overcome his initial skepticism. Ruivo learned to solar cook using a “CooKit” given to him by Solar Cookers International (SCI). He has since made and used several types of solar cookers, mostly “low cost apparatus using recycled materials.” Over ninety percent of his meals are now cooked with solar energy. Ruivo started promoting solar cookers locally — at his home, in local schools and restaurants, etc. — and worked with local media. Then he broadened his scope to other regions of Portugal, and eventually to Brazil and Spain. He’s even becoming known in Australia, where an interview with Ruivo (taped during a solar cooker workshop he conducted for about 70 Scouts) was broadcast on Australia’s SBS television program “Dateline.” Ruivo conducts numerous promotional activities. He has held several solar cooker conferences at the University of Algarve, with sessions on the evolution of solar cookers in Portugal, solar cooker distribution strategies, and solar cooker construction. He has also assisted with solar picnics and participated in solar cooking contests. According to Serrano, Ruivo has “developed an intensive process to diffuse the technology, [organizing] workshops, symposiums, courses, etc. — more than 20 activities in only one year.” Though Ruivo admits to being somewhat tired, he says he will continue his efforts to “contaminate others with this solar cooking virus.” Contact: Prof. Celestino Rodrigues Ruivo, Escola Sup. Tecnologia-Universidade do Algarve, Campus da Penha, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal. Tel: 289800166, fax: 289888405, e-mail: cruivo@ualg.pt


Kenya safe water project ramps up

Top staff members from Kenya’s water and health agencies participated in SCI’s water testing and solar pasteurization workshop in Kisumu. Front row (left to right): SCI’s Faustine Odaba, Margaret Owino and Dr. Bob MetcalfWith support from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the long anticipated “training of trainers” water testing and solar pasteurization workshop was held in June at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu, Kenya. Participants included 20 top staff members each from the Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) and the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MPHS). Solar Cookers International (SCI) staff members Margaret Owino, Faustine Odaba, Elijah Achola, Dinah Chienjo, Simon Ogutu, John Amayo and Karyn Ellis were instrumental in the success of this workshop, as was John Rimberia from Embu. Microbiologist and SCI Board President Dr. Bob Metcalf led the workshop. Topics included a review of bacterial properties and growth, pasteurization principles, use of the bacterium Escherichia coli as a contamination indicator, properties of the Colilert® and Petrifilm™ tests for E. coli, and solar pasteurization using the CooKit solar cooker and SCI’s wax-based, reusable Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI). Dr. Metcalf explains Petrifilm™ test resultsParticipants inoculated Colilert tubes and Petrifilms with water sources from the area. After overnight incubation, distinctive results informed the group if E. coli was present. This information was used to determine the level of disease risk for each water sample: low, moderate, high, or very high. This information is extremely important considering that approximately 40% of hospital attendance in Kenya is due to illnesses that are water-, sanitation-, or hygiene-related. By packaging 25 Colilert and Petrifilm tests with sterile plastic pipettes, sterile plastic collecting bags, and a battery-operated UV lamp for reading Colilert tests, Metcalf created a gallon-sized Portable Microbiology Laboratory (PML) that enables water testing anywhere. After a brief training, community members are able to test their own water sources and interpret the results. While the microbiology workshop took place, SCI staff set up an impressive solar cooking and water pasteurization display for the workshop participants. By lunch, participants could sample the wonderful flavors of solar-cooked chicken, fish, meat, rice, vegetables, omelets, ugali, and cake. The melted wax of the WAPIs gave visual evidence that solar water pasteurization had taken place. The third day of the workshop started with a field trip to visit water treatment sites in the Kisumu area. The next stop was the SCI project in Kadibo, and the last stop was at SCI’s Sunny Solutions headquarters in Katito, where a big community celebration was underway marking the fifth anniversary of the Sunny Solutions project. Solar Cooker Representatives (SCOREPs) and other solar cooks had more than 100 solar CooKits set out in the sun, cooking and pasteurizing water. The Tom Mboya and Katito solar cooking demonstrations generated a high level of interest. At the closing ceremony of the workshop, each participant was surprised and delighted to receive a CooKit, pot and WAPI, in addition to a workshop certificate. WRMA and MPHS staff were given a large number of water testing materials to start using immediately. These materials were particularly appreciated by staff from Nyanza Province, which includes Kisumu, as 12 cases of cholera were reported the previous day in Kisumu. More than 900 cholera cases have been reported in Nyanza since January 2008. In Nairobi, Metcalf and Owino met with CEO Patrick Oloo and Water Quality Officer Rose Nyamori at WRMA, and with Chief Public Health Officer Kepha Ombacho and Deputy Secretary N.K. Waweru of MPHS, to plan for further implementation of the Safe Water Project and expansion of water testing throughout Kenya. PMLs will be provided by SCI to WRMA and MPHS, thanks in part to significant in-kind contributions from Petrifilm maker 3M and Colilert maker IDEXX Laboratories.


Energy Globe awards honor solar cooker organizations

SCI Eastern Africa Director Margaret Owino (left) accepts the Energy Globe award from Maneka Gandhi, chairperson of the international juryTwo solar cooker organizations — Solar Cookers International (SCI) and AkayConsult — were honored at the prestigious 2007 Energy Globe awards ceremony held at the European Parliament in Brussels this past May. The Energy Globe awards showcase sustainable projects that demonstrate “good, feasible solutions” to existing environmental problems in five categories: earth, fire, water, air, and youth. The awards gala is broadcast worldwide to approximately 3 billion households. SCI was the national winner for Kenya with its Sunny Solutions initiative in Nyakach, Kenya. Launched in 2003, this project expands opportunities for local entrepreneurs, mostly women, to save money by using and selling solar cookers and solar-cooked products. The unattended cooking has freed time for other income-generating activities and self improvement. To date nearly 4,000 solar cookers have been sold in the area. AkayConsult was the national winner for Malaysia with its initiative to increase local availability of potable water. This is achieved by harvesting rain water, which is then automatically diverted to a solar water pasteurizer that is scalable and low maintenance.

More information about the award is available on-line at www.energyglobe.com/en/.


Message from the Executive Director

Max Ozimek tests homemade solar CooKitsGreetings SCI Members,

A rewarding aspect of being at Solar Cookers International (SCI) is talking with inspiring people who support solar cooking. Recently, a lady called who has worked for many years with women living in caves outside of Guatemala City. We talked about how solar cookers could be made and used to help these women ease their burdens. My telephone friend said she was originally from the South, that she was eighty years old, was once a “Georgia peach” but was now a “Georgia pit.” She said she was in the United States to visit the “body shop” before returning to Guatemala. Another of my colleagues was moved by the efforts of a 13-year-old boy named Max Ozimek, who raised $5,000 to support a project in Uganda. This year has been very exciting with the implementation of SCI’s first Safe Water Project, made possible through the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. We view this collaborative effort with the Kenya Water Resources Management Authority and the Kenya Ministry of Health as a model for programs that can be replicated in many countries. World Health Organization (WHO) representatives in Kenya are aware of how solar cooking, water testing and solar pasteurization technologies have been incorporated into the Safe Water Project. A fall meeting with WHO in Geneva will focus on how this project can be expanded to other parts of the world, and possible collaboration between SCI and WHO to integrate sanitation and hygiene information. Karyn Ellis, SCI director of international program development, has just returned from Africa. She met with Peace Corps, CARE and Heifer International, in addition to other national and community groups who have expressed an interest in developing new programs with SCI. Her visit ties directly to our interest in working with other groups that support complementary program activities such as health, agriculture and education. While in Uganda she participated in a five-day training session for community women in Obia, led by Kawesa Mukasa and head trainer Olivia Kanyesigye of Solar Connect Association based in Kampala. SCI board member Patricia McArdle removes solar-cooked chocolate cake and pumpkin bread at a U.S. Botanical Gardens eventThe workshop included integrated solar cooking and a demonstration of a six brick Rocket Stove. Remember Max? A second training session took place in Musoma, Tanzania with a representative of the non-profit TanzSolar, an organization that works to bring affordable solar lighting to rural areas. We are pursuing a relationship with them as well. Humanitarian assistance continues to be an area of importance to SCI. An evaluation of the solar cooker project in Iridimi, Chad indicated that most refugees in the camp now use solar cookers. As a consequence of this use, violence against refugees has been reduced because residents leave the camp less often to search for fuel. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has indicated that it will schedule a second evaluation of the Iridimi project. The findings of this evaluation will be beneficial in initiating similar projects in other refugee camps. Patrick Widner (left) and Mary RobinsonSCI’s eastern Africa office in Kenya has been approached about training representatives of the Danish Refugee Council in solar cooking. Following training, these individuals would apply that knowledge to other refugee camps in Chad. Also pending is a training program requested by the World Bank for personnel of the Ministry of Health in southern Sudan. We are pleased that documentation of the process used to initiate and implement the Iridimi project will take place beginning in September. This work will result in a history of how that project was developed by Derk Rijks of KoZon Foundation. It is planned that a “how to” manual will also be created as part of the documentation so that additional organizations will have some insight as to how these programs progress. Support for this work will come from Jewish World Watch. In the area of advocacy, SCI representatives have been extremely busy promoting solar cooking in locations such as New York’s Grand Central Station, the U.S. Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C., Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A group of SCI volunteers will also participate with the Colorado Renewable Energy Society at the Democratic National Convention to promote solar cooking and water pasteurization. SCI’s education resources program continues to develop materials that are essential for advocacy at these types of events, as well as at meetings with government officials and United Nations (UN) agencies. SCI advocates are in leadership positions at the UN on committees such as the Status of Women and as co-chair of the Working Group on Displaced Women focused on refugees, migrants and trafficked women. Advocates are also supporting the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by assisting in the preparation of materials for the World Health Assembly to take place in Kenya in 2009. The issue of human rights was a focus at the annual InterAction Forum in Washington, D.C. Mary Robinson, first woman President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, chaired a panel discussion emphasizing that human rights include physical, social, economic and moral security. We will keep those shared thoughts in mind as we move forward with new program efforts. In keeping with the spirit of sharing, SCI also gifted President Robinson with a solar cooker. We believe that human rights should include access to fuel to help meet the necessities of life, including safe water. SCI’s contribution to help provide those needs will be through greater awareness of the use and benefits of solar energy. We are grateful for your company and support in this effort.

Be well!

Patrick T. Widner
SCI Executive Director


NDO! NDO! NDO! HUJAZA NDO! (Drop by drop the bucket fills up!)

by Margaret Owino, SCI Eastern Africa Director

The eastern Africa regional office (EARO) of Solar Cookers International (SCI) celebrated its 10th anniversary in March 2008. The past decade has witnessed growth in solar cooker awareness and increased spread of solar cooking skills in the region. The office started as a borrowed desk in shared office space with Energy Alternatives Africa, at that time located on Rose Avenue in Nairobi, Kenya. With just one staff member, EARO had a specific task: coordinate SCI’s refugee camp projects and bring them to successful conclusion. Since then, the EARO has expanded to four Kenya locations — Nairobi, Katito, Rabuor and Kajiado — and has five permanent and six contractual staff members, along with dozens of trainers and volunteers. The EARO has gone from a single technology organization to one that promotes a wide range of solar cookers and retained-heat devices, and it works in partnership with fuel-efficient stove organizations to offer integrated solar cooking solutions to its beneficiaries.

The EARO is proud of its accomplishments over the past decade. Here are some highlights.

Solar cooking projects:

  • Implemented projects in Kakuma (Kenya) and Aisha (Ethiopia) refugee camps. In Aisha, an independent evaluation showed that close to 95 percent of surveyed households used solar CooKits for some of their cooking. Camp-wide, consumption of firewood decreased by approximately 32 percent over baseline data.
  • Initiated and implemented the Sunny Solutions project in Nyakach, Kenya. Over 100,000 people are now aware of solar cooking, and 4,000 have purchased solar cookers. An independent evaluation of this project is pending.
  • Initiated two smaller projects in the Kenya communities of Kadibo and Kajiado. The projects are ongoing. 

Temporary SCI offices used while implementing the refugee solar cooker project in Aisha, EthiopiaSolar cooking education and public awareness:

  • Organized and/or participated in numerous public and private events, including trade fairs, farmer field days, solar celebrations, and school gatherings.
  • Utilized television, radio, and newspapers to reach a wider audience.
  • Produced the semi-annual SuNews periodical to inform the public and SCI supporters of regional news and project updates.
  • Presented at numerous international, regional, and local forums.
  • Organized and executed trainer workshops in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia and Ethiopia
  • Produced and translated booklets on proper use of the solar CooKit and retained-heat devices.
  • Sought to influence policy by attracting the attention of government officials and participating in forums organized by like-minded agencies.
  • Hosted 50 individuals from 20 countries at an Asia/Africa seminar of solar cooking leaders in February 2005.

Solar cooker technology development:

  • Developed the OYWA CooKit with waxed cardboard and edge binding for increased durability. This innovation, and the women who developed it, received a top award at the inaugural Pan-African Women Invent and Innovate (PAWII) exhibition, conference, and awards ceremony held in Accra, Ghana in 2005. The OYWA CooKit was patented with Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) in 2007.
  • Explained solar cooker assembly for the women who now make and repair CooKits and earn income from this activity. This strategic move also made CooKits more affordable.
  • Registered Solar Cookers Enterprises as a profit-making arm to enable smooth operations within the legal requirements of Kenya.
  • Identified a source of concentrator (parabolic) cookers in Jinja, Uganda, and became its main distributor in Kenya.

SCOREPS are essential partners in Nyakach and other communities in KenyaThe EARO has developed a number of partnerships over the past 10 years. Perhaps most important is its partnership with 42 women (referred to as Solar Cooker Representatives or SCOREPs) who are experienced solar cooks, teach solar cooking skills, make and repair solar cookers, and sell solar cookers in their villages. SCOREPs are vital to the success of SCI’s projects in Nyakach, Kadibo, and Kajiado. Also important to the success of these projects are long-term partnerships with local organizations. In Nyakach, for instance, the EARO partners with the Nyakach Community Development Association (NYACODA); in Kajiado, the EARO partners with the African Inland Church Dispensary. Short-term partnerships, like those the EARO has with the Italian embassy in Kenya and the Lift Up Africa organization, are helpful for smaller outreach and training programs. The EARO also considers as cherished partners the devoted supporters and donors of SCI, board members past and present, advocates and friends, and headquarters staff in the U.S. Moving forward, the EARO plans to implement current projects to conclusion, while seeking other ways of disseminating solar cookers, e.g. through existing markets. It also hopes to establish a resource center to better serve the western part of Kenya, and expand the range of products and services offered. Though it has struggled to find funding resources outside those provided by the SCI headquarters office, the EARO will continue to seek independent funds and increase sales to meet the current and future demand for training programs within the region.

Contact: Margaret Owino, eastern Africa director, Solar Cookers International (E.A.), Githunguri Road, Kileleshwa, PO Box 51190-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: (254)-20-4347144/4347295, e-mail: sci@iconnect.co.ke


Japan’s AIT develops simple, affordable cookers for educators

When viewed from the top (far left), the unique interior box shape of the Educooker can be seen.Solar cookers are not widespread in Japan, according to professor Yuichi Nakajo of the Ashikaga Institute of Technology (AIT), but they are available commercially and are used and promoted in schools. Both the Japan Solar Energy Education Association and the Japan Solar Cooking Association actively promote the use of solar cookers as educational tools. “In spite of their low saturation level,” Nakajo says, “many educators think solar cookers are ideal tools to enlighten children on fundamental physics and renewable energy.” Nakajo felt that there was a gap in the types of solar cookers available to teachers in Japan, so he set out to design a box-type solar cooker that met the following criteria:

 

  • Easy to use and modify
  • Compact when folded, yet large enough for real cooking
  • Accepting of a broad range of sun angles so frequent rotation is not required
  • Powerful enough to complete cooking during limited school hours
  • Reasonably priced for public schools

The result is the AIT Educooker, a cardboard and foil solar box cooker that comes with all the materials necessary for assembly and use, including a black cooking pot and a colorful instruction manual. The Educooker 002 is made from a single sheet of foil-lined cardboardThe reflective interior box has the shape of an inverted, truncated, asymmetric square pyramid — two adjoining walls are angled 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the cooking surface and the other two are angled about 120 degrees. The interior can be used in one of two positions, depending on time of year, to increase the amount of sun reflected onto the cooking pot. Large, adjustable external reflectors are attached to two adjoining sides of the cooker lid, while a narrow reflector attached to the corner of the lid holds the larger reflectors in place and allows angle adjustment using hook and loop straps. These reflectors are angled high in the summer and lower in the winter to maximize exposure to sunlight. In most solar box cookers, the long side of the box is considered the front and faces the sun during cooking. Because of the arrangement of reflectors and interior walls in the Educooker, the corner of the cooker is actually the front, increasing the sun receiving area by 40 percent, according to Nakajo. Seasonal adjustments are made to the Educooker 002 by adjusting each of its four panelsWith this arrangement, up to four hours of cooking can be done without rotating the box to track the sun’s movement. Japan Solar Energy Education Association representative Iseko Shirai says that AIT has recently developed a panel-type solar cooker, the Educooker 002, and is in the process of making a larger version called the Educooker 003. Like the original Educooker, the Educooker 002 comes with a black cooking pot and colorful instruction manual. Also included is a transparent, heat-resistant plastic bag necessary for maintaining cooking temperatures in this type of cooker. Cut from a single, square sheet of foil-lined cardboard, the Educooker 002 is shaped like a boxy four-leaf clover when flat. Setup is simple — just raise or lower each of the four panels for maximum sun exposure, overlapping as necessary, and fasten with the included clips. The instruction manual suggests setups for each season, but teachers may want to have students determine on their own which panel positions will work best for which seasons or sun elevations.

Contact: Yuichi Nakajo, Nakajo Lab, Ashikaga Institute of Technology, 268-1 Omae-cho, Ashikaga, Tochigi 326-8558, Japan. Tel: 0284-62-0605, fax: 0284-62-9802, e-mail: Nakajo@ashitech.ac.jp. Iseko Shirai, Japan Solar Energy Education Association, 2-42-30 Ogikubo, Suginami, Tokyo 167-0051, Japan. Tel: +81-3-5347-1508, e-mail: solar_energy@hyper.cx Web: http://solarenergy.fc2web.com/index.htm 


SCI Association membership drive: join or renew now for 2008 & 2009

by Bev Blum, SCIA secretariat

Wish you had a louder voice to influence funders and policy makers? Join the Solar Cookers International Association (SCIA), comprised of 79 organizations and other solar cooker experts who advocate to “improve health, economics, societies and environments by spreading solar cooking, water pasteurizing and food processing.” Solar Cookers International (SCI), which has official consultative status with United Nations agencies, speaks to world leaders on behalf of all SCIA members and opens doors to regional and local offices. To join the SCIA, or to renew your membership, send an e-mail to association@solarcookers.org, or request a short membership questionnaire by mail: Solar Cookers International Association, c/o SCI, 1919 21st Street #101, Sacramento, California 95811, USA. SCIA membership is now free.

Steps you can take to support and benefit from the SCIA:

1. Increase SCIA’s influence at the World Health Organization by sending examples of “best practices” (one page or less) to implement local wisdom in health promotion. Describe ways that local wisdom improved your solar cooker program’s usefulness and promotion, especially as it relates to health, nutrition and safe water. Criteria for best practices include ease of implementation, buy-in and empowerment, involvement of multiple stakeholders, cost effectiveness, and adoption of practices by the local population. (For more information visit www.ngos4healthpromotion.) Please submit your examples to SCI’s Geneva U.N. Representative Dr. Sonia Heptonstall by e-mail: heptonstall@chenay.com. The examples will be presented at the 7th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Nairobi next August.

2. Add resources and information about your activities to the Solar Cooking Archive Wiki regularly. At solarcooking.wikia.com, you can contribute:

  • Previous and current promotion activities in your country 
  • Statistics and national data on relevant topics such as energy costs, waterborne diseases, and cooking smoke-related illnesses
  • Sample issues papers and handouts that others can adapt
  • Translations of educational materials and advocacy tools found on the Solar Cooking Archive (solarcooking.org)

Be sure to also visit the SCIA wiki page at http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/SCIA

3. Join the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (http://www.pciaonline.org) and get on their world map.

4. Share information on relevant international conferences, and attend, participate, and exhibit whenever possible.

Examples of what your U.N. representatives and international advocates are doing:

  • Contributing to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Women’s Initiative and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), as they develop guidelines on energy needs. 
  • Asking the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to waive tariffs for solar cooker materials that require importation. 
  • Encouraging and publicizing corporate contributions, such as 3M’s donation of Petrifilm™ tests for Tanzania and Kenya safe water projects and IDEXX Laboratories’ provision of discount Colilert® tests for water testing in Kenya.

Questions about the Association? Send an e-mail: association@solarcookers.org

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS (as of June 2008) AkayConsult, MALAYSIA All India Women's Conference, INDIA Association pour le Développement de l'Energie Solaire (ADES), SWITZERLAND Association for Renewable Energy Cooking Appliances (AFRECA), SOUTH AFRICA Avinashilingam Deemed University, INDIA Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, Indore, INDIA Bezalel Self Help Group, Kenya Center for Development of Solar Energy (CEDESOL), BOLIVIA Center for Development of Solar Energy (CEDESOL), PARAGUAY Centre for Rural Technology (CRT/N), NEPAL Chinchani Tarapur Education Soc., INDIA Clarte-Dieu, Abbaye de la, FRANCE Componente Acceso a Servicios Energeticos (COPASA-GTZ), PERU Developmental Association for Renewable Energies, NIGERIA Energia Solar Andina S.R.L., BOLIVIA Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Universidade do Algarve, PORTUGAL Falk Solar, BOLIVIA Förderverein für Solarkocher (FSK), SWITZERLAND Foundation for Sustainable Technologies (FoST), NEPAL Friendly Appropriate Solar Technologies (FAST), USA Fundación Inti Uma, ECUADOR Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd., INDIA Girl Guides Association of Zimbabwe, ZIMBABWE GloboSol, SWITZERLAND GRADES-AFRICA, NIGERIA Hag Global Limited, ENGLAND Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, INDIA El Instituto Ecuatoriano de Investigaciones y Capacitación de la Mujer (IECAIM), ECUADOR International Center for Networking, Ecology Education & Reintegration (ICNEER), INDIA International Solar Energy Society Japan Solar Cooking Association, JAPAN Joka Organization for Protection of Environment & Development (JOKA OPED), INDIA KADETFU, TANZANIA Keen Youth Malawi, MALAWI Kent Sudanese Society, USA Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center, USA Kyoto Twist Solar Cooking Society, CANADA Luwero Kids League, Uganda M/S. Padmaja Food Products, INDIA Micro Enterprise Solar Harvest, USA Mixtec Children’s Project, MEXICO Mueller Solartechnik, GERMANY New Energy Works, USA Parroquia Santa Rosa de Lima, EL SALVADOR Partnership for Integrated Sustainable Energy Development Association (PISDA), ETHIOPIA Project Hope, USA Proyectos Solares Inteligentes, COLOMBIA Promoters & Researchers in Non Conventional Energy (PRINCE), INDIA Rapts Development Project, Uganda Red de Cocinas Solares de Latinoamerica (RECOSOL), CHILE Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, University of California, USA Rotary Club of Fresno, USA Rotary Club of Kusinta-Lusaka, ZAMBIA Rotary Club of Adana-Seyhan, TURKEY Sobre la Roca Energias Alternativas, BOLIVIA Sol Sustenance, Inc., AUSTRALIA Solar Connect Association, Uganda Solar Cooker Japan (SCJ), JAPAN Solar Cooking Foundation the Netherlands (SCN), NETHERLANDS Solar Energy for West Africa (SEWA), GERMANY Solar Health and Education Project (SHEP), SWITZERLAND Solar Household Energy, Inc. (SHE), USA Solea Consult, SPAIN Stichting KoZon, NETHERLANDS Sun Baked, CANADA Sun Fire, SOUTH AFRICA Terre de la Paix (TPAX), D.R. CONGO The Solar Stove Project, USA Tle Nafa, BURKINA FASO ULOG Freiburg, GERMANY Vestergaard Frandsen A/S, DENMARK Welfare Society for Disabled People, Uganda


SCI wins Africa Peace Award

Solar Cookers International (SCI) was recently honored by the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR) at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) for bringing the benefits of solar cooking and water pasteurization to over 30,000 African families. Dr. Bob Metcalf, SCI board president and CSUS professor of biological sciences, accepted the award at the center’s 16th annual Africa Peace Awards dinner in May. CACPR was established in 1996 to provide conflict resolution and reconciliation services for agencies, governments, organizations, businesses communities and other groups through training, education, research, and intervention.

Contact: Ernest E. Uwazie, CAPCR Director, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, California 95819-6085, USA. Tel: (916) 278-6282, fax: (916) 278-3429, e-mail: capcr@ccol.csus.edu Web: www.csus.edu/org/capcr/index.htm


WHO confirms dangers of indoor air pollution & unsafe water

For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a country-by-country analysis of the impact of environmental factors on health. The data show that 13 million deaths each year could be prevented through environmental improvements. Solar cookers are vital tools in reducing two of the worst environmental problems — indoor air pollution and unsafe water. The following excerpts are from a WHO press release available on-line at: www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr30/en/index.html. (Note: Environmental factors used in this assessment include pollution, occupational factors, UV radiation, noise, agricultural methods, climate and ecosystem change, the built environment, and people’s behavior.)

In 23 countries worldwide, more than 10% of deaths are due to just two environmental risk factors: unsafe water, including poor sanitation and hygiene, and indoor air pollution due to solid fuel use for cooking. Around the world, children under five are the main victims and make up 74% of deaths due to diarrheal disease and lower respiratory infections. Low income countries suffer the most from environmental health factors, losing about 20 times more healthy years of life per person per year than high income countries. The worst affected countries include Angola, Burkina Faso and Mali, as well as Afghanistan. The data show that household interventions could dramatically reduce the death rate. Using cleaner fuel such as gas or electricity, using better cooking devices, improving the ventilation or modifying people’s behavior (such as keeping children away from smoke) could have a major impact on respiratory infections and diseases among women and children. Interventions at the community or national level would involve promoting household water treatment and safe storage, and introducing energy policies which favor development and health. For example, reducing levels of air pollution (measured by PM10) as set out in WHO’s Air Quality Guidelines would save an estimated 865,000 lives per year.


Scalable CooKit design simplifies measurements

The new design (front) is very similar to SCI’s CooKit (back)Philip King has developed a modified solar CooKit shape, based on the original Solar Cookers International (SCI) design, that can be easily scaled up or down in size and does not require any curved cuts or angle measurements. He wanted the overall shape to be as close as possible to the original, but have some distinctive features of its own. King notes that his design does not necessarily speed up mass production of cookers, but it does make it easier to use different sizes of cardboard to make individual CooKits. Measurements in King’s CooKit stem from a unit size (U) that is derived from the cardboard dimensions. To determine U, divide the length of the long side (L) by 32, and check that the short side (S) is at least as long as 24 x (L ÷ 32). If not, then reduce U until 24 x U fits within the short side, and then shorten the long side accordingly. Philip King’s modified CooKit diagram, version 0.8SCI’s standard CooKit is made from a sheet of cardboard measuring 48 inches by 36 inches (122 centimeters by 91 centimeters). To make a similarly sized version of King’s CooKit, U would be 1.5 inches (or 4 centimeters, which will yield a slightly bigger CooKit).  For quick measurements, King suggests making an L-shaped measuring tool that measures, on the longest sides, 4 U by 2 U, and is 1 U deep. (See diagram). Mark the major (4 U) divisions around the edge of the area using strong lines, and mark the highlighted minor (1 U) divisions with lighter, shorter lines. In most cases the marks only need to go an inch or so onto the sheet. After marking around the edges it’s just a matter of joining the right marks and finding where lines intersect. Start with the large “V” in the center that creates the back panel by joining the center mark at the bottom to A simple L-shaped tool speeds up measurementsthe points 4 U on either side of the center mark at the top. Then find the bottom crease for the back panel by drawing a horizontal line 9 U from the top. Once the top center panel is drawn, the bottom left and right corners of this panel act as anchors for the lines which make the side wings and slots. Continue connecting edge marks and intersection lines to determine where cuts and folds are located, until all lines have been drawn. The two angled slots (see diagram) should be cut as wide as the thickness of the cardboard. If the finished slots are too loose they can be tightened by using one or more layers of packing tape fed through the slot and folded over both sides, which also strengthens the slots. After the cardboard has been cut to shape, aluminum foil is glued on one side using a one to one mixture of white glue and water brushed smoothly on the foil. Once dry, the CooKit is ready to be folded into position for cooking. As with most other panel-style solar cookers, the CooKit requires a black cooking pot enclosed in a transparent, heat-resistant bag or similar material that allows sunlight to hit the pot but doesn’t allow heat to escape. A PDF version of King’s CooKit design is available on-line at www.coconino.co.uk/solar/CooKit-arbitrary-units-v085.pdf

For more information, contact Philip King by e-mail: philip@coconino.co.uk


ETHOS program spreads appropriate technology through student-NGO partnerships

by Dr. Margaret Pinnell, Director of ETHOS, University of Dayton

Dr. Margaret Pinnell reads with a childStudents at the University of Dayton (UD), located in Dayton, Ohio (USA), have the opportunity to participate in a program called Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities of Service-learning (ETHOS). The ETHOS program was developed, as part of a spring 2001 capstone design course, by an interdisciplinary group of undergraduate engineering students who believed that engineers are more apt and capable to appropriately serve the world if they have an understanding of technology’s linkage with global values, culture, society, politics, and economics. ETHOS seeks to enhance this understanding through a variety of activities that support the advancement of appropriate technologies for the developing world. Service-learning and appropriate technology serve as the core of the ETHOS program. In service-learning, students become involved in a project that meets specific educational objectives while providing a needed service to a community or organization. Appropriate technologies offer culturally sensitive, environmentally sustainable solutions that can be made and maintained locally and empower the community.

THE ETHOS PROGRAM The ETHOS program offers international technical service-learning immersions, student organization activities, collaborative research opportunities, and hands-on course-related projects. Much of the work is through students’ support of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in developing countries. Examples of NGO partnership work facilitated through ETHOS include: a course related project that studied the durability and insulative properties of bricks used to make fuel-efficient cook stoves (Aprovecho and Prolena), on-site work improving the design and efficiency of solar cookers in Nicaragua and Bolivia (Grupo Fenix and CEDESOL), independent study to design and help install a water delivery and filtration system in Cameroon (Kumba Village), and a course-related project to develop a solar autoclave design and micro-business (Grupo Fenix and Salud del Sol). Of the various opportunities offered by ETHOS, the international technical service-learning immersions may have the biggest impact on the attitudes and perceptions of the students. Many students describe their ETHOS internship as “life changing.” Through ETHOS, more than 90 engineering students have traveled to developing countries to participate in internships. Over a period of 10 to 16 weeks, students work with collaborating organizations and communities to help finding appropriate, sustainable and effective solutions to technical challenges through guided research and development projects. Small teams of two to four students are placed with each organization, each living with separate host families. During their internships, students use their engineering knowledge to address real world problems while gaining a better understanding of the interface between technology and global society. Students have been placed in countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Cameroon, Togo, Ecuador, and Mexico. Students from non-engineering majors can also participate in ETHOS, typically working side-by side with engineering students as an interdisciplinary team. The program continues to be largely student run, with help from an administrative team consisting of myself as faculty director, Dr. Phil Aaron, and Graduate Assistant Michael Vehar. The ETHOS program has been identified by the UD president, Dr. Dan Curran, as “exemplar” of what UD is all about. More information about the ETHOS is available on-line at www.udayton.edu/~ethos.

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS ETHOS has many well-established international partners. One such partner is Grupo Fenix, which was started in 1996 by a group of engineering students and professor Susan Kinne at the National Engineering University (Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería) in Managua, Nicaragua. The objectives of Grupo Fenix are to conduct practical research into appropriate energy technologies, to support community self-determination and local responsibility for projects, to increase the technical skill level and employability of local people, to improve health and living standards of families and communities, and to preserve natural resources. Grupo Fenix has several locations throughout Nicaragua and conducts a number of programs, including oversight of an emerging social entrepreneurship company called Suni Solar that designs, installs, and evaluates renewable energy projects and investments in Nicaragua, and maintenance of Sabana Grande, a rural laboratory for renewable energy design, analysis, construction and dissemination. More information on Grupo Fenix can be found on its Web site: www.grupofenix.org.  Another well established partner of the ETHOS program is CEDESOL, located in Cochabamba, Bolivia. CEDESOL empowers local communities with social and technological tools that also protect the environment. CEDESOL promotes alternative education, renewable energy, and social justice through a variety of activities, including the design and manufacture of biomass stoves and solar cookers, education about the dangers of indoor air pollution, and micro-finance. More information on CEDESOL can be found on its Web site: www.cedesol.org.

STUDENT PROJECTS Since 2001, students participating in ETHOS technical service-learning immersions have been involved with projects in numerous organizations. Projects include research and development of water delivery and filtration systems, ethanol distillation, biomass stoves, retained-heat devices, and solar cookers, as well as computer and photovoltaic systems installation. Although not all of the projects are related to solar technologies, some of the more successful projects have been.

From left to right, Anna Young, Lori Hanna, Dan Hensel and Lauren Dokes with their solar autoclaveSolar Autoclave Project In the summer of 2006, ETHOS student Lori Hanna did an ETHOS service-learning internship with Grupo Fenix in Sabana Grande, Nicaragua. While working with Grupo Fenix, she identified the need for more convenient methods to sterilize medical equipment in rural clinics that often lacked electricity. One alternative identified by Hanna was a solar autoclave. She brought the idea back to UD and was encouraged to pursue this idea through class projects in several of her classes. Furthermore, she was provided the opportunity to do some of the background research and modeling as part of her undergraduate thesis. A bulk of the design and development work was done through the two-semester capstone design course that is facilitated through UD’s Design Clinic. Here Hanna joined with four additional students on this project sponsored by the ETHOS program. The design was developed with the input and assistance of the head nurse of a medical clinic in Nicaragua, along with Grupo Fenix. A business plan for transferring the technology to develop a micro-business in the Nicaraguan community was created as part of a business plan competition run through UD’s School of Business Administration. The solar sterilizer business plan team, Salud del Sol, consisted of Hanna and fellow Design Clinic engineering student Dan Hensel, along with business students Anna Young and Lauren Dokes. Developed with input from Grupo Fenix and the local community, the plan called for the marketing of solar cookers and solar-powered sterilizers produced by companies in Nicaraguan villages. Salud del Sol was established as a nonprofit business that aimed to bring the “health from the sun” to medical treatment in developing countries. Solar box cookers in BoliviaThe Salud del Sol business plan earned top prize, and $10,000 seed money, at the April 2008 competition. The venture is set to begin this summer. More information on Salud del Sol can be found on its Web site: www.saluddelsol.org 

The Bolivia Project The Bolivia Project started when Ruth Whitfield of CEDESOL, and then ETHOS undergraduate participant Mike Vehar, discussed the need to subsidize the cost of solar cookers in communities in Bolivia. The goals of the project are to help make solar cookers affordable to more people, to prevent health problems associated with indoor air pollution and burns from cooking with biomass, to reduce deforestation and the associated land erosion, and to reduce carbon emissions resulting from cooking with biomass. With assistance from Collin Whelley, Vehar created a promotional video and sought donations from family, friends, and local businesses. While in Bolivia, Vehar, Whelley and Chris Phillips worked with Sobre la Roca to develop educational materials and teach Bolivians how to make and use solar cookers through a series of demonstrations and courses. The students raised enough money to subsidize half of the cost of the solar cookers for 360 families, bringing the price of the cookers down to $25 each.


Call for papers: International Solar Food Processing Conference 2009

The Solar Food Processing Network is planning an International Solar Food Processing Conference to be held in Indore, India from January 14-16, 2009. The conference is coordinated by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, and the School of Energy and Environmental Studies at Devi Ahilya University, Indore. The conference will cover a range of solar food processing technologies and techniques, including solar drying and solar thermal applications, with an emphasis on income generation and economic feasibility. An exhibition of products and technologies will take place concurrently. Abstracts are due by September 15, 2008 covering any of the following topics: local solar food processing technologies and parameters; local marketing; international marketing; packaging; back-up systems — how to ensure sustainable energy supply; quality measures and indicators; solar food definition and quality standards; and examples of solar food projects.

More information is available on-line at www.solarfood2009.org, or by e-mail: solarfood2009@barli.org


Archives de Cuisson Solaire Wiki

Dr. Andrew KotowskiLess than two years after its creation, the Solar Cooking Archive Wiki (http://solarcooking.wikia.com) has grown to over 1,150 pages of content, and has spawned wikis in multiple languages, including Spanish, French, and even one in Japanese that is currently empty, but awaiting volunteers. Dr. Andrew Kotowski has volunteered a great deal of time developing the French wiki (http://fr.solarcooking.wikia.com) over the past nine months.Kotowski’s solar barbecue He has worked on the basic framework of the wiki, and has seeded it with information about his own work with solar cookers, as well as some information about the work of others. The French wiki now has over 150 pages of content. Since wikis are edited by everyone, we invite all French-speaking solar cooks and promoters to share their experiences on the wiki. Kotowski, an engineer, specializes in research and design of solar cookers. He has invented several models of cookers, including a unique solar barbecue that is optimized for European climates. In 2002, he and his wife Sophia founded a Virtual Laboratory of Solar Domestic Applications and distributed a monthly electronic newsletter highlighting work done by them as well as “solar friends” Allart Ligtenberg, Nguyen Tan Bich, Martin Almada, and Roger Bernard, among others.

Contact Andrew Kotowski by e-mail: solar-cooking-concept@orange.fr


Tributes

Tribute gifts have been given to Solar Cookers International by:

  • Endre and Nina Balint in honor of Carmel Jacobs

  • Carolyn Blackstone in memory of Pamela Louise Matthews Kantz

  • Ann Blanchard in honor of Bill and Martha Landseidel

  • Sally Bowden and Ted Cosbey in memory of Elsie Cosbey

  • Peggy and Jon Branstrator in honor of Bob Metcalf

  • Jean and Roger Bryant in honor of Payot Jacques

  • Gary and Jonita Burns in honor of Zelinda Hanson

  • Jay and Linda Butler in honor of Dorothy Butler

  • Alice L. Camille in honor of Dale L. Gilson

  • Frank and Joan Cho in honor of the marriage of Madelein and Blair

  • Elsa, Sherry and Robert Cole in honor of Barbara Kerr

  • Ann  M. Collentine and Kevin Williams in honor of John and Tess Collentine

  • Robert and Beverley Davies in honor of Karyn Ellis

  • John and Patricia Desmond in memory of Gordon Williamson

  • Thomas B. Duffy in honor of Tom and Julia Duffy

  • Community Foundation of Greater Memphis in honor of Mary Frank

  • Richards K. Farnham in honor of Laurel Farnham

  • Merrill and Mary Ferris in honor of Marjorie Pentecost

  • Sandra Folzer in honor of her sister Cynthia John

  • Lynne Franford in honor of Jenna Cavicchia

  • Mary Frank and Leo Treitler in memory of Grace Paley

  • Helen Giambruni in honor of Magali Sarfatti Larson

  • Calvin Grimm in honor of Margaret Owino and the Sunny Solutions project

  • A. Jeffrey and Judy Grob in honor of Gabrielle, Lauren and Jennifer

  • Betty Guzowski in memory of John Guzowski

  • Ron Hadnutt in honor of Norma Hadnutt

  • Elizabeth Hagens in honor of Lucie C. Hagens

  • William A. Henderson in memory of his mother Mavis M. Henderson

  • James Heuer in honor of Mary Stacklie

  • Rev. Carol Hilton Smith in memory of Rev. Dwight Smith

  • Charles Hosking in honor of Max and Nancy Rice

  • Annette Howitt in honor of the anniversary of Bill and Kay Howitt

  • Fred and Catherine Jappe in honor of Dr. Friedhelm Sandbrink

  • Barbara P. Kerr in honor of Sherry Cole

  • Diane Kierce in honor of Jane Varley

  • Leslie Kleinfeld and Jon Lockert in honor of Rena Ferreira and Naomi Maddux

  • Virginia Kotler in memory of Mary Ann Fiske

  • April Little in honor of HNA student Darfur club

  • Jane Lorenz in memory of Gordon Williamson

  • Nina Lubick-Reich in honor of the birthday of Lydia Coltman

  • Jane R. Lurie in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Jeremy Giaquinta

  • Cecilia Matthews in honor of the marriage of Julie and Rob Patrick

  • Joanne McDougall in memory of Gordon Williamson

  • Kristen Miller in honor of the birthday of Gary Hursh

  • Thomas Norton in honor of professor Toni Wasserburger

  • Margaret Ortega in memory of Father Flavin

  • Margaret and John Poffenberger in honor of John Peter Mogieluicki

  • Patricia and Fred Pratt in honor of Fred Pratt

  • Ann Prego in honor of her daughter Tamara Gonzalez

  • Melinda Price in memory of Mary Ann Fiske

  • Kirby Ridgway in honor of Lindy Ridgway

  • David K. Rodrigues in honor of the birthday of Cynthia B. Luce

  • David Saxe in honor of Robert Saxe

  • Martin Schneider in honor of Allan Ridley

  • Cathy A. Sellitto in memory of her mother Catherine Sellitto

  • Roger and Irene Smith in memory of Gloria I. Smith

  • Rondal Snodgrass in honor of the birthday of Allan Ridley

  • David Studebaker in memory of Helen L. Studebaker

  • Dr. and Mrs. Shaam Sundhar in honor of P.R. Rajarao

  • Elizabeth Tormey in honor of VMT

  • Jim and Gay VerSteeg in memory of Gwen Bankson

  • Rosemary Vimont in memory of Maru Hollen

  • Lawrence and Laura Walheim in honor of Teale Walheim

  • Helen C. Walsh in memory of Gordon Williamson

  • Bill and Lorette Wambach in honor of Wilfred and Marie Pimentel

  • Joyce Wasileski in honor of Janet Sweeney

  • Matthew Watson in honor of Myrna Goldsmith

  • Al and Claire Weiner in memory of Gordon Williamson

  • Deborah J. Wiese and Tudi Haasl in memory of Ethel Johnson

  • Margaret Woodruff in honor of Ketu

  • Anna Zolkowski in memory of Gordon Williamson


Calling all U.S. federal employees!

Are you a federal employee? Do you know one? Solar Cookers International (SCI) has again qualified as a participating organization in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). SCI is a beneficiary of the effort through the Aid for Africa Federation. We are proud to meet the rigorous financial, accountability, and governance standards, and ask for your CFC support. Federal employees have the option of supporting SCI with either a one-time gift or with recurring payroll deductions. For those interested in joining the effort, our CFC number is 11023. This code directs your donation to SCI’s Africa programs.

If you’d like to learn more about Aid for Africa, information is available on-line at www.aidforafrica.org. Your questions are also welcomed by Michael Hayes at SCI. You can reach him by telephone: (916) 455-4499, or e-mail: michael@solarcookers.org

Thanks, federal employees, for your philanthropy and involvement in the effort to spread this sustainable solar solution.


Solar Cooker Review

Solar Cooker Review is published two or three times per year with the purpose of presenting solar cooking information from around the world. Topics include solar cooker technology, dissemination strategies, educational materials, and cultural and social adaptations. From time to time we cover related topics such as women’s issues, wood shortages, health, nutrition, air pollution, climatic changes, and the environment.

The Review is sent to those who contribute money or news about solar cooking projects. The suggested subscription price is $10/year. Single copies are sent free to select libraries and groups overseas.

We welcome reports and commentary related to solar cooking for possible inclusion. These may be edited for clarity or space. Please cite sources whenever possible. We will credit your contribution. Send to Solar Cookers International (SCI), 1919 21st Street #101, Sacramento, California 95811-6827, USA. You may also submit by fax: +1 (916) 455-4498 or e-mail: kevin@solarcookers.org.

The Review is compiled and edited by Kevin Porter, SCI’s education resources director, with assistance from other staff. Layout is graciously donated by IMPACT Publications located in Medford, Oregon, USA.

SCI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization assisting communities in using the power of the sun to cook food and pasteurize water for the benefit of people and environments. SCI is a member of InterAction. We do not sell, rent or trade names of our donors. Tax ID # 68-0153141.

The Review is available online at www.solarcooking.org/docs.htm#newsletters.

This document is published on The Solar Cooking Archive at http://solarcooking.org/newsletters/scraug08.htm. For questions or comments, contact webmaster@solarcooking.org