The solar cooker project is amazing because it’s one of the practical ways to help Darfuri refugees and its benefits are easily seen. Basically, one of the horrors of Darfur is that women living in refugee camps are not safe – they need to find firewood to cook the relief rations they’re given. Relief agencies provide a small amount of wood which only lasts a few days. For the rest, women and girls go outside the camp to scrounge for dead branches, or cut down trees and bushes. Trees are scarce in the desert so they often have to search for hours to bring home enough firewood to last. On these trips many have gotten assaulted and raped by the men from the militias who destroyed their villages in the first place, or by people living in nearby villages who also need firewood, and see the huge refugee camps taking away the resources they live on.

Then the solar cooker project started in two refugee camps in Chad. The cooker is a solar reflector shaped in an oval, and a cooking pot is put in the middle. Over two hours the pot absorbs the sun’s heat and cooks a meal. In the desert people can cook this way almost every day of the year, even in rainy season, and prepare most of their food WITH SUNLIGHT ALONE.

The project is a big success in two Darfuri refugee camps in Chad. The women all use them, eliminating most trips outside the camp to get wood. They estimate there are 86% fewer trips away from the camp now, due to the solar cooking. In addition to safety, some women earn money making the cookers and covers that go with them.

See http://www.jewishworldwatch.org to see how this works and to donate. $30 provides one family with 2 solar cookers, pots and training.