Clean Fuels and Cookstoves for Schools in Uganda

Dear Friend and Supporter-

We’re thrilled to share with you the latest update on our project in Rubaare, Uganda. 

Thanks to your generous donations in August we were able to help the school start its fuel briquette program this month. Isaac Owor, our fuel briquette expert in Uganda, spent 10 days in Rubaare earlier this month training the student and they are now off and running!

The students on the production crew work after school, gathering and preparing the material, producing the briquettes and arranging them for drying.  Although rainy weather has slowed down the drying process, we will be able to test the briquettes in the school’s cookstoves sometime next week.

This first phase of our project has already taught us some important lessons.  One, the students learn very quickly and are so productive we need to build additional drying racks. This is a good problem to have! Fortunately, local carpenters can produce these racks fairly cheaply.  Second, we will need to help the school build a covered production area so that production can continue even during rainy season.

So while we are very pleased with how things are going in Rubaare, we still need to nurture and support the program at the first school and then expand our program to the other schools in the school district.  Once the fuel briquettes are in place, we will be turning to the clean cookstove phase of the project. 

We hope we can continue to count on your moral and financial support as we help the school reduce its fuel costs, generate income, and protect their local environment. Our goal is make our project in Rubaare a model that can be replicated elsewhere in the region, the country, and the continent.

One way to give us support is to consider giving a donation to The Charcoal Project in honor of your loved ones this holiday season. 

Through our project site on Global Giving, you can make a donation in someone’s honor and send a paper card, e-mail or e-card notification.  Just visit http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/clean-fuel-and-cookstoves-for-schools-in-uganda/, click on the Donate button, and choose the “in honor of” option.  This is a great way to add special meaning to your annual gift giving.

Thanks again for all of your support and wishing you a peaceful and joyous holiday season.

Best,

Kim Chaix and Sylvia Herzog