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United Methodist-supported program promotes solar cooking in Haiti

Feb. 23, 2005	 News media contact:   Fran  Walsh * (615) 742-5458*
Nashville {05113}

NOTE: A UMTV report and photographs are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Feature
By Shanta Bryant Gyan*

While baking, boiling and frying are easily accomplished by most
families in developed nations, cooking a simple meal can be a daily
challenge in impoverished countries such as Haiti.

The island nation's ongoing economic woes and massive environmental
destruction have contributed to the pillaging of virtually all of
Haiti's trees, which often are used for charcoal and cooking fuel. The
practical consequences of deforestation have been devastating for
families. Obtaining cooking fuel is a daily struggle, and many women are
forced to walk long distances to find firewood.

During numerous mission trips to Haiti, United Methodist missionary Rick
Jost saw the problem firsthand. Thus, Solar Oven Partners was born.

With a solar oven - which taps the energy of the sun to prepare food -
Haitians are introduced to a new way of cooking.

"Whenever there is sunshine in this land of abundant sun, Haitians can
cook their food with no cost for fuel, and without cutting trees, which
pollutes the air and water, exposes the land to erosion, and has
tremendous health and economic fallout," said Jost, a missionary from
the Dakotas Annual (regional) Conference.

Solar Oven Partners, a non-profit organization partially funded by the
United Methodist Committee on Relief, evolved from the Haitian
experiences of United Methodist Volunteers-In-Mission construction teams
and a local Rotary club. Mission teams of up to 12 volunteers from the
Dakotas travel to Haiti three times a year to build and distribute
ovens. So far, more than 1,000 ovens have been distributed to Haitian
families.

"You can cook virtually anything in the solar oven, virtually any food
you can cook by other means," said Jost, director of Solar Oven
Partners.

He says the benefits of solar cooking are tremendous. With the new
ovens, Haitians can save up to 30 percent of their food and cooking fuel
budget. And in a country where access to safe water is an important
health issue, the ovens can be used to pasteurize drinking water.

"The sun comes in, these things get hot. You can boil water in them,"
said Gene Bethke, a Solar Oven Partners volunteer, as he opens the oven.
"See the steam rising off?"

And bread, which cannot be prepared over an open fire, can easily be
baked in a solar oven, supplying families with bread that otherwise
would come from wood-fired adobe ovens.

Because the oven only works on sunny days, Haitians can alternate
between using the solar oven and charcoal. "They can use charcoal. We
aren't asking them to abandon that but to wisely use the sun when they
can because it costs them nothing," Jost said.

Each solar oven costs about $100 to produce. Through Solar Oven
Partners, Haitians can get one for $5 by attending a three-day course
led by Montas and Raymonde Joseph, a Haitian husband-and-wife team
employed by the organization.

Montas has a background in education, and Raymonde was formally trained
at a cooking school. Together, the Josephs recruit seminar participants
and educate communities about the benefits of solar cooking. They
demonstrate how to prepare Haitian cuisine using this new tool. And they
offer tips about the care and maintenance of solar ovens.

The results have been both economical and tasty.

"It's good, taste good," said a Haitian man, sampling food cooked in a
solar oven. "I think I will get one of these."

For more information on Solar Oven Partners visit,
www.gbgm-umc.org/solarovenshaiti/.

# # #

*Gyan is a freelance writer based in the New York City area.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org