Smokeless Stoves

A team of five Congolese volunteers procured safe cooking technologies and traveled from the U.S. to Mpoyi in July 2021 to conduct a week-long training of trainers program. A key achievement was to introduce smokeless cooking, particularly to enable women in Mpoyi to avoid respiratory diseases caused by fumes from cooking over a fire.

In July 2021, the CEPP team introduced solar cooking technologies and provided tools and supplies for training Mpoyi residents in using and replicating these technologies. The COH team at Ben Hill built the solar cooking wooden box and cardboard box. We bought cloth Wonderbags from South Africa. In Mpoyi, Dr. Mukenge conducted demonstrations of construction and use of portable solar wooden and cardboard cookers. Community members then built a wooden solar cooker and used it. CEPP trained women how to cook using the Wonderbag. All of these methods aim to avoid women inhaling fumes from traditional open-fire cooking that leads to respiratory diseases and early deaths among women. In November 2021, COH was able to purchase wood to make additional wooden solar boxes so that more women can receive them for their households.