HOUSEHOLD SMOKE - A DEADLY KILLER

One of the things we learned most during our time in Kager was the amount of time and energy that the women of the children spend gathering water and wood fuels, and then more time preparing fires and foods. There is little to no food storage, and usually meals are made one-at-a-time. I think "leftovers" are a by-product of electricity and refrigeration -- something that most of us probably don't even stop to think about.



We also learned firsthand what it meant to have open cooking fires in the house (which most homes do) -- smoke is always served as an "appetizer" for any meal, and there is always plenty to go around. I had observed this before on my mission trips, but it really took living in a home in the village for four days to really realize what a challenge it is to be a "house wife" in the developing world.


In my recent research on the effects of "household smoke", here is what I learned from the World Health Organization website (http://www.who.int/indoorair/en/ ) and a few others:

• 3 billion people depend on solid and biomass fuels today (wood, charcoal, dung, agricultural residues) for their energy needs


• Most of these 3 billion use open fires or traditional stoves, which produce particulate pollution levels 20 times higher than WHO guidelines


• Indoor air pollution is responsible for 2.3% of the global burden disease


• Indoor smoke leads to the deaths of over 1.5 million annually -- MORE THAN THAT CAUSED BY MALARIA


• A child exposed to household smoke is 2 to 3 more likely to catch pneumonia, which is one of the leading killers of young children


• Indoor smoke is fourth greatest risk to death and disease in the poorest countries


• Women spend 3 to 7 hours a day by the fire, giving them the most exposure to this deadly killer


• Smoke produced from indoor cooking is equivalent to smoking to packs of cigarettes a day

I also found this really interesting graphic that does a pretty good job of showing just what effect the use of solid and bio fuels has on the average household in the poorest countries (from WHO website): it affects incomes, health, women's productivity and the environment. It has really started us to think that one of the most transformational projects we might embark on is to "modernize the kitchens" of Kager to take advantage of already avaiable technologies: higher efficient stoves, smoke and fume hoods, and food canning. Through a series of e-mails with Brother Kayando, we have asked him to make an appreciative inquiry of the women in his village and see what the level of interest they would have in such an initiative. One of our ideas is to set up a "demonstration kitchen" in the building we have now designated as the "Jubilee Centre" (it is the old unused church building in the village).

A couple of things I like most about this initiative are 1) it can impact every household 2) it will be very empowering and energizing to the women of the community 3) it can use solutions and products that already exist in Kenya (Kisumu) and 4) it provides the potential to create jobs down the road, too.

Tonight, as I open my food pantry and refrigerator to get my stored food, fire them up on both my gas range and my microwave, use the clean running water from our faucet, and sit down and have a quiet meal under our dining room light, I will be sure to thank God for the blessings of modern technology that has made my life easier and more productive.

Ned