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ACF Introduces Fuel-Efficient Stoves to Communities in Southern Sudan
Ngong Tunc Malok’s home feels eerie and deserted; the still smouldering ashes bear witness to the devastating fire that robbed the family of its livelihood just one day earlier.
“I was alone with some of the children when the tukuls [huts] caught fire from the open fireplace used for cooking; there were no adults here to come to the rescue. There was nothing I could do. First, the tukul where we store all our clothes, cooking utensils and harvest burnt down, then it spread to the second one where we keep the animals. Everything is so dry, it happened so quickly, and there was no one to let out the animals…all three goats perished.”
Ngong’s misfortune is not uncommon in southern Sudan or in much of the developing world, where open fireplaces are a common way to cook. Uncontrolled fires like the one in Ngong’s home are not the only hazard, either. Every year, the smoke from open fires kills an estimated 1.9 million people, mostly women and children, making this one of the five most serious health threats facing poor people in developing countries, according to the World Health Organization. Open stoves also lead to deforestation because more firewood is needed to create sufficient heat for cooking.
Many in southern Sudan know people who have suffered similar tragedies. Fortunately, ever since Action Against Hunger introduced fuel-efficient stoves to Ngong’s community last year, such incidents have become far less frequent.
Alor Kon Deng is one of the women who received training and materials from ACF to build her own fuel-efficient stove.
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