Solar cookers for poor rural remote communities in Oaxaca, Mexico
Since 2017, SHE has supported Mexican solar cooking expert Lorena Harp in her goal to bring solar cooking to poor rural families in Oaxaca through a self-funding “solar cooker ambassador” program. Ambassadors are rural women who promote and sell on commission in their communities an affordable and durable panel-style solar cooker, the Haines Solar Cooker (HSC), then provide training and regular support to maximize long-term adoption and impact.
Here are some users’ testimonials:
““It comes out delicious! The Haines Solar Cooker preserves the flavor, just as if you were cooking it in a clay pot in a firewood kitchen. I would like at least 4!” - Esther Patricio, customer & ambassador
“As I am an artisan, I prepare my food and then I go out to sell my work. And, when I come back, the food is cooked and ready! I have cooked…everything! Since I do not have a stove with an oven, this is my oven. My daughter says she’s going to buy one.” - Macedonia Martinez, customer”
Oaxaca Ambassador Program Highlights:
- Over 400 solar cookers sold to low-income customers in remote, rural communities
- Ten ambassadors earning $15 commission per sale
- 50% savings in fuel usage, as reported by customers
- Over 350 solar cookers donated or sold to local organizations for emergency relief
- Donation and delivery of groceries to over 40 families in need
The “100 Families” project in Nairobi, Kenya – direct donations to lift the poorest out of poverty
SHE continues joint efforts with solar cooking expert Tom Sponheim to lift 100 families out of extreme poverty. Using a radically transparent model, Nairobi-based project manager Samuel Odhiambo transfers donor funds directly to each family, and sends back photos to show how the funds were used, available here: http://100fams.org. Basic needs such as groceries are met first, then families work with Mr. Odhiambo to start businesses, aiming for self-sufficiency. In 2023, as Covid restrictions lifted and many families were able to return to their pre-pandemic activities, food assistance was only necessary for 12 families. Other funds were used for poverty alleviation, advancing health, education, and building community, among other initiatives. Some have added solar cooking to their lives for increased savings. Other cooking aids have been introduced: heat-retention basket cookers, ethanol Koko stoves, thermoses, sprouting beans and fermenting foods for affordable, vitamin-rich foods. Community centers and groups have been established: a borrowing fund, a sewing center, a computer lab, a chess club, a borrowing fund, community clean-up groups. School uniforms and fees were paid for the poorest families to allow children to attend school. Finally, medical expenses for critical cases were covered.
Nairobi-based manager Samuel Odhiambo describes one family selected to receive funds for groceries:
“A widowed mother with four girls. When she heard that I was reaching out to the needy, she called me after getting my number, and I had to pay her a courtesy call on Sunday, by seven. I have been in such a situation and I could feel what she meant that they were hungry. In a dark room, no light at all though her children are school going told it all. The youngest looked frail and as soon as I directed the money to her M-Pesa account, she with her daughter were out to go and do the shopping.”
East Africa: Solar Cooking for Refugees
Since 2012, Over 800 solar cookers have been distributed to refugees in East Africa. Refugee camps in the arid Sahel region have exerted tremendous unsustainable pressure on the land and forests of the region since 2003, mostly due to firewood collection needed for cooking. Sexual and gender-based violence is high among women, who must venture outside the refugee camps to collect wood.
In 2011, SHE, in partnership with UNHCR and local implementing partners distributed 250 HotPots in Gaga refugee camp in Chad. Evaluations after three and five years showed that all HotPots were still in good or excellent condition, an 87% satisfaction rate, high usage (67% using HotPot more than other cookstoves, 40% no longer using the three-stone fire), and 76% desiring additional HotPots.
In 2017, 500 Haines-CopenHaguen solar cookers were donated with training to schoolchildren during a festival in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Since 2019, various SHE-supported social enterprises and focus groups have distributed or sold over 100 HotPots around refugee camp areas.
In 2022 and 2023, SHE supported solar cooking focus group projects for over 40 women living in communities near refugee camps, with the aim of expanding to large-scale carbon-credit-earning projects.
One user from Gaga refugee camp gave this feedback: “I learned that with the sun I can cook all my dishes, without having to exit the camp. All women should have a solar cooker. – SALWA MAHAMAT SOULEYMAN”
SHE volunteers also carry out solar cooking education, contribute to R&D and to setting international solar cooker standards.
