Sun Ovens Will Save Lives and Trees in Mali

By Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga
Rotary International News
Photos by Owen Lowery

26 June 2006

A group of Chicago high school students and teachers have traveled to the West African nation of Mali with a gift of two solar ovens from area Rotary clubs.

On 15 June, a week before departure, members of the team gathered at Schurz High School to learn how to use the ovens so they can teach their Malian hosts to cook with the sun as a source of energy.

Ronald Mutebi, of the Rotary Club of Chicago Far North, was their enthusiastic instructor. As the international projects chair of his club, Mutebi has visited places where the sun oven can be a real godsend.

"There are countries where you will look for miles and you can't see a standing tree," he said. "People will struggle to get food and firewood. Sometimes they get the food [but] not the energy to cook it with. A sun oven solves the problem of fuel."

Over a two-week period, the team will break ground for a school building, lay bricks, and experience life in rural Mali without access to running water and electricity. Village residents cook with firewood or charcoal. Wood fire is a health hazard because it gives off toxic fumes that can lead to severe respiratory problems, especially in children.

"These sun ovens will be beneficial for their health, their time, and the environment," noted Veronica Quintero. She has been volunteering since grade school, but the Mali trip will be her first outside of the United States.

"I think going to Mali and building a school for them will have a big impact on their life and mine," she said.

"I'm very excited," said fellow student Matthew Kallen. "Everybody who I've talked to thinks it's going to be a life-changing experience."

Maricore Kimoto, a team member and English teacher at Schurz High School, explained that students from the eight schools involved raised US$6,500 toward the cost of building the school in Mali. The initiative will be an invaluable lesson for the group of eight students and three teachers who volunteered to travel.

"I was really attracted to the project because it makes students become more aware of what's happening in the world," she said. "All of us want to come back a little bit more knowledgeable and to actually feel that we can help. Often times, students feel that they are so far away and so removed from these problems that they don't know how they can help."

Building with Books, the Chicago Public Schools administration, and Sun Ovens International are co-sponsors of the effort in addition to the Rotary clubs. Building with Books, the technical partner of the Mali initiative, has 15 years of experience coordinating similar projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Sun Ovens International, manufacturer of the ovens, works with Rotary clubs to supply the ovens to those who need them.

"The four organizations have come together and done a wonderful thing," said Kimoto.

Andrew Chudzinski contributed to this story.

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