June 28, 2013
The Watson Foundation encourages fellows to feel the
edges of their projects, to leave plenty of room for fluidity and exploring
beyond any self-created confines. Today,
I was able to watch several women build stoves as part of a collaborative
effort between TRMEGA (my homestay mom’s NGO – Training, Research, Monitoring,
and Evaluation on Gender and AIDs) and the wildlife conservation organization
her husband works for. These stoves,
apparently conceived of by Danish colleagues, reduce firewood use, minimize
smoke at eye level, are smaller to conserve space, and are well-insulated for
efficiency. Women were smashing bricks
into powder, mixing the dusty substance with water and cementer, and pouring
the mixture into molds. The stoves take
about 24 hours to dry and set and are made up of three pieces: a small circular
base (maybe 12 inches across), a connecting piece, and a tall chimney.
It is amazing that something so seemingly simple and
“easy” to create can have potentially far reaching effects. Reduced firewood usage alleviates pressure on
wildlife by decreasing deforestation; smaller stoves take up less space in
homes that may only be one room; and the chimney reduces the amount of harmful
fumes the women would otherwise inhale.
Moreover, because the stoves are well-insulated and more efficient,
women can spend less time in the kitchen.
Less time cooking and gathering fuel ideally means more time pursuing
income generating activities. Right now,
16 women are working on the project, with the goal of completing the last four
today (they construct four a day). Each
woman will be able to bring one home at no charge and then they will continue
to construct them to earn a small profit.
They cost about 16,000 tsh ($10 USD) and the women will only make a
profit of about 4,000 tsh ($2.50 USD) after all is said and done. Although this isn’t much, I guess it’s at
least something. Although stoves are not
directly related to food production in an agricultural sense, they are so
directly linked to food systems and social and environmental issues, that I
thought I would share this interesting experience.
Today I also watched and helped make homemade juice
with Regina, the woman who helps cook and clean around the house. We used sour sop fruit from a graviola tree
in the backyard and passion fruit.
Regina peeled the sour sop, tore and put chunks into a bowl, and then we
mashed it with a potato masher.
Apparently sour sop is a “miracle” fruit whose leaves, bark, fruits etc.
can be used to fight cancer naturally and effectively. Helen showed me an article (though not
scientific) about how it targets only malignant cells and can treat breast
cancer, prostate, and colon among many types.
One study showed it to be up to 10,000 x more effective than
conventional cancer treatments and much less damaging than chemotherapy. It can be grown in tropical climates (e.g.
the Amazon rainforest, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia). So why haven’t we heard of this miracle
drug? According to the article, research
on sour sop has been occurring since the 1970s but when pharmaceutical
companies discovered that they couldn’t synthesize an artificial replicate from
the natural form, it was clear that they couldn’t patent it and thus make a
profit. This may have resulted in the
discarding and cover-up of legitimate, publishable, scientific research. Seems like a crime against humanity if you
ask me, however, I still question the credibility of this article, which was
more like an editorial than anything.
However, if accurate, it is a testament to how much some corporations
and power hungry individuals value profits over people and the
environment. So back to the juice: I
swear it is ambrosia, an elixir of the Gods.
It is naturally quite sweet and after scooping out the passion fruit
flesh, we mixed the fruit with water, strained it, and added a touch of sugar
(which in my opinion was unnecessary). I
wish we had these fruits at home so I could replicate it for my family.
No comments:
Post a Comment