[Stoves] Greetings from Ken and happy 2008

[ken goyer]

Here's a report from Ken Goyer on the AidAfrica project in Uganda. Tom Miles


> Greetings from Ken and Happy 2008, 
> 
>      Sometimes we take the New Year to reflect on
> our
> past and to consider our future. AidAfrica has been
> in
> operation now for a little more than a year. This
> has
> been a time of organizing, learning, and growth for
> us. We have established a new business starting with
> only an idea, the idea of helping, in any way we
> could, the people of Northern Uganda. 
>      Our first efforts have been to build fuel
> saving
> cooking stoves for people, who have been cooking on
> open fires, and to find sick babies and see that
> they
> receive medical attention.  
>      A little over a year ago, four of us, Freda,
> Priscilla and Martin, from Lira, and I, from the
> U.S.,
> arrived in Gulu. We rented an office and began our
> program. I soon went home, and they continued.
> Eventually we hired more staff people and in the
> coming year five volunteers from the U.S. came and
> helped. With the help of two Rotary Clubs we
> purchased
> a Toyota van, and later we purchased another Toyota
> van and a truck to help us with our work. 
>      Although we are incorporated in the U.S., and
> we
> are recognized as a non-profit organization in the
> U.S., our official acceptance in Uganda was more
> difficult. Probably we were impatient, but
> eventually
> everything worked out and now we are incorporated in
> Uganda, and we have received our official NGO (non
> government organization) status. Even opening a new
> bank account in Uganda can be a challenge. 
>      I should mention Rosette's efforts. Rosette
> lives
> in Jinja, in Southern Uganda. She became our
> Administrative Secretary. She spearheaded much of
> the
> AidAfrica legal paperwork. She went down to the sea
> to
> Mombassa to take delivery of the two vehicles we
> imported from Japan. She started an orphanage and
> now
> has 17 children under her charge. And she has also
> managed the Rocket Stove portion of the Rotary Club
> Adopt-A-Village program, and so far, has placed a
> SixBrick  Rocket Stove in every home in two villages
> in Southern Uganda.
>      Last year some of my energies were redirected
> by
> my personal illness. I fought (successfully) urinary
> tract cancer. Not usually one to be sick, this
> experience has made me more appreciative of living
> with chronic illnesses such as malaria and diarrhea,
> and all of the other illnesses that haunt daily life
> in Africa. 
>      Peter has been a tremendous help to AidAfrica.
> In
> addition to being on our board of directors, he has
> made recurring trips to Uganda. He always has good
> ideas. He is now working at home on some film
> projects
> for AidAfrica and about life in IDP camps and the
> suffering and joys of life in Northern Uganda. But
> it
> will be hard to keep him at home for very long. 
>      So what else have we accomplished last year? We
> have established a brick making site outside of
> Gulu.
> Four brick makers are making special bricks for our
> SixBricks Rocket Stoves. We now have made stoves in
> three camps and we are working in two more camps. So
> far, these have been small camps. But there are
> about
> two hundred camps around Gulu and some have as many
> as
> 50,000 people. So there is no shortage of work for
> the
> future. 
>      Last year we took 430 babies to the hospital. I
> will continue to repeat, "If you are one year old
> and
> you have MAD (malaria, anemia, diarrhea) you will
> die
> if you don't receive immediate medical care".  Each
> week 1,000 babies in Northern Uganda die above the
> expected death rate, which is already high. This is
> wrong. (I'll leave it at "wrong" and I won't use all
> of the other adjectives). We want to do what we can
> to
> reverse and stop these unconscionable and
> unnecessary
> deaths. Since we are not doctors, what we can do is
> to
> take the baby (and its mother) to the hospital to
> receive proper medical care. If the baby makes it to
> the hospital it will probably live. (We did have
> three
> babies die). 
>     I hope in the coming year to make both aspects
> of
> our project more efficient. First, we hope to make
> stoves better and faster. Also, we have entered into
> discussion with Aprovecho Research Institute about
> distributing Rocket Stoves in Northern Uganda that
> they are mass producing in China. Carbon credits
> might
> pay for their dissemination. Then our dream of
> giving
> a stove to everyone in Uganda might come true
> quicker.
>  
>      We now have two vans and eventually I would
> like
> to get twenty more. This would enable us to reach
> all
> of the camps and find very many babies and other
> sick
> people and see that they can receive medical
> attention. 
>      Well drilling remains highest on our wish list.
> Of the two hundred IDP camps around Gulu, one
> hundred
> and twenty have no sanitary drinking water. This is
> the cause of much illness, death, and despair. The
> Adopt-A-Village program in the South needs wells as
> well :-).  In addition, we have ambitions of
> starting
> a tree nursery for reforestation and fruit
> production.
>      The needs are overwhelming. This is why we must
> continue to work here. We hope that volunteers will
> continue to come and bring their energy and their
> ideas. We hope that everyone will continue to
> support
> us as best you can. Your support has made this
> project
> successful. Without your support this project would
> have never happened. Together, we have helped and
> brought hope to very many people. 
>       This Monday I am starting the trek back to
> Uganda. This trip like all of the previous ones will
> present many challenges and many opportunities. I am
> looking forward to being back and seeing and
> visiting
> and working with our staff, our friends. Together we
> have built a new organization, AidAfrica. And now
> the
> New Year presents us with the opportunity to
> continue
> with our good works. 
>       Two closing thoughts: 
> See our new website at http://aidafrica.net and look
> for the links to other sites.
> Freda had a healthy baby boy, 2.8 kg., on December
> 15th. Freda and the baby are in good health and
> doing
> fine.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who have made AidAfrica possible.
> Much love from Ken Goyer, 
> Executive Director, AidAfrica
>      
> 
>