Burning the midnight oil no more

Friday, February 27, 2015

By Nguyen Minh Sy – Trieu Phong ADP

All day Ms. Tuyet was found in the kitchen preparing five separate meals, three for her family of three and two for the pigs, while her 11-year-old son Mung had little time for homework after wandering around the village in an endless search for firewood.

That all changed, however, when the 50-year-old mother welcomed a new addition to the family’s home: a husk-fuelled stove. Now all Tuyet needs to do is gather some of the husks that always litter the village, especially after a rice harvest.

“People in my village often burn the husks, which isn’t productive and pollutes the environment with smoke and ash,” she says.

With the new stove, cooking is easier and faster. “It takes me just 15-20 minutes to cook a meal now,” Tuyet says, “so I have more time for other work to earn more money. And my son has more time to study at home because I don’t need firewood anymore.”

The family is among 40 poor households living in Trieu Son district, Quang Tri province who received the innovative cookers as part of an environmental protection project jointly conducted by World Vision, the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the KEB Sharing Foundation, a non-profit arm of the Korea Exchange Bank.

“My husband passed away a long time ago, so my mother, my son and I have to do everything to make ends meet, which means we have no time for ourselves,” says Tuyet. “But now I can spend more time with my son and even try other types of work for extra income."

“My kitchen is clean now as well instead of always being filled with smoke and covered in ash like before. I could never have imagined that such a small invention could have improved our lives so much.”

Ms Mai Van Thang, a member of World Vision’s local village development board, says, “The stove means rice husks can now be used as a fuel for cooking without affecting the environment.

“It’s made of quality materials, but it’s cheap, so it’s suitable for our villagers. And after seeing the first batch of 40 stoves in action, many local people have expressed a desire for one, so we plan to supply more soon.”