AID UGANDA APRIL-MAY 2005

Our project is to make 10,000 energy efficient, six brick rocket stoves

in refugee camps in Northern Uganda starting in mid April 2005

Project Summary

By Ken Goyer

We were rained out! In spite of that we have managed to complete 300 stoves in two camps, have 1,000 more stoves under construction, and have about 20,000 unfired bricks waiting to dry and be burned. We have started brickmaking in three locations. One location, Apala, is near several very large camps in eastern Lira District. Due to the distance and sometimes rebel danger we did not visit this site. It is being organized by "J.K." one of our three stove promoters. The two other brick sites are located closer to Lira.

We decided that it was futile to give a stove with no means of protecting it from the rain and equally futile to have a stove with no means of cutting and splitting wood. So we have included a metal pan to be used as a stove cover, and an ax with every stove. This increases the price considerably, but it is necessary.

Our group consists of our host Mathew Langol, of All Nations Christian Care in Lira, Peter Keller and Chuck Wojnoski from the First Congregational Church in Pasadena , California , Christine Keller, Pete’s daughter and past Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania , Adelitus Mgao from Tanzania . Also Rosette Kirangi and Monic Rwaheru joined us for about a week. They are stove veterans from the Jinja Rotary Club training last year.

We have employed and trained three local people to continue this work under Mathew's supervision after we leave. They are J.K. Okeng, Mary Onen, and Francis Ogwang. Jimmy Ogwang, the driver from All Nations has also been an indispensable aid to us.

MAD

When I arrived I found several deathly ill infants in Boke camp and I took them to the hospital. They were dying from what I later came to call MAD.

Malaria, Anemia, Diarrhea

A week later Adelitus, a medical officer in Tanzania arrived to help us anyway he could with the stoves. He continued with this medical effort and by the time he left 38 people from two camps had been treated, many of whom would have died. By the time I left over 45 people, many of them infants and children had been treated for various illnesses many of them with MAD. Only one of the babies died. This effort will be continued by Mrs. Helen Olwoch, the A.N.C.C. nurse, if funding is forthcoming. Adelitus would also like to return to continue this work.

We also provided introductory stove training for 30 people from the Langol Organic Cooperative. They do development work in Northern Uganda and were very receptive to the stoves.

All things considered, the materials and the labor are in place to make several thousand more stoves. And with future funding (and oversight) hopefully this project will spread to all of Northern Uganda .

Coming soon, please see aiduganda.org I plan to post all of the pictures and everyone’s individual reports of the trip and my own more detailed report of the project.

In addition Pete, Chuck and Christine have posted their reports at http://www.uccpasadena.org/uganda.html

Many thanks

To All Nations Christian Care and

To everyone who has made this project a reality!

Everyone loves the stove. A third party comment conveyed back to me from Erute camp was that "the stove is made from magic bricks that glow".

THE BEGINNING OF 10,000

Ken Goyer

kgoyer@comcast.net

541-689-7170