Fuel Efficient Stoves for Darfur

In February, CHF hired additional laborers [thanks to the overwhelming support of our individual donors through Global Giving and beyond], that increased production to 35-45 stoves per day (approx 1000/month).

The demand for the stove among the internally displaced people (IDPs) is high because the stove is durable, effective, and tangibly beneficial to their lives. The project is going strong.

In addition, the Stove project has spurred another economic livelihoods project for the women and youth of Darfur. Many have now begun to participate in our Baskets for Darfur project which creates revenue for the family. Women in the program are using the income to purchase more food for their families, schooling for their children, and livestock.

One Story of Inspiration

Hajja Suaad, 55, is a displaced woman from Tawila, in Darfur, Sudan. Living in a relief camp with her family, Hajja is one of thousands of women who have had to leave their villages due to the ongoing conflict in the region over the past three years. CHF International is working with more than 250,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) to provide them with the services, tools, and skills they need to earn a living and be prepared for their eventual return to their home villages. Hajja has become a role model in CHF's basket production activities in the relief camps.

In September 2005, she was selected for a two-month training in traditional handicrafts and has since excelled in basket weaving. CHF organized an exhibition in December 2005 to display the IDP-produced traditional handicrafts for the development community of professionals in the area. Hajja Suaad was a pioneer in designing a market strategy to sell most of her products during the two-week exhibition. In addition, after graduating from the CHF course, she organized a group of five women from her team and started a self-funded basket project. Hajja now has a successful basket production business with the group and produces crafts at her own pace from her own home. She has become a self-sufficient IDP thanks to CHF livelihoods and training program, selling her products and earning between SDD 20,000 to 25,000 a month (US$100 to US$120).

For more about CHF's programs in Darfur, Sudan, please visit the link below. h

Links:

• CHF's Sudan programming

I am pleased to report that [following a lull during the holidays] production of fuel-efficient stoves in Nyala is back up to 15-20 stoves per day and as of January 23, CHF had already produced a total of 2,627 stoves in Nyala, South Darfur. The Nyala Ministry of Youth has allocated CHF additional workspace and a storage facility within its Nyala Youth Center free of charge, a gesture that indicates vital Governmental Ministry support for the program.

In February, CHF is hiring additional laborers [thanks to the overwhelming support of our individual donors through Global Giving and beyond], which will increase production to 35-45 stoves per day (approx 1000/month).

CHF has also partnered with Action Contre le Faim [a French NGO] to distribute the stoves to vulnerable internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kalma, Otash, Dereig, and Al Salaam camps, and also with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to distribute the stoves to remote areas of Eastern Jebel Mara, and to Gereida camp.

The demand for the stove among the internally displaced people (IDPs) is high because the stove is durable, effective, and tangibly beneficial to their lives. The project is going strong.