SHE’s 10-person focus group solar cooker project in Eldoret, Kenya

SHE collaborated with Solar Education Project (SEP) and other partners to carry out a 20-person focus group solar cooker project in St. Joseph church in Eldoret county, Kenya. This project provided 20 beneficiaries with materials to make 20 solar cookers and assembly instructions, and solar cooker usage training during a 7-day workshop September 19-25 2022, which built upon on a 3-day heat-retention cooker workshop held the previous May at the same location for the same beneficiaries. This project location was chosen as it was  the home of Grace Chepkemei, who had carried out previous solar cooker trainings for solar cooker focus group projects in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya. Her colleague, Camily Wedende, who had carried out heat-retention basket training with her for these projects, was also from Eldoret county. For more information, please see SEP’s Solar Thermal Cooking Instruction Manual in English, Solar Thermal Cooking Workbook in Swahili, and 2022 Workshop Report which includes usage data on the next 15 days. Please watch the YouTube video about the workshop created by Volunteer Eitan Schramm created a video detailing the solar cooking workshop.

Some details from the video about the solar cooker workshop in Eldoret: In September of 2022, a workshop was conducted in Eldoret, Kenya, which included seven days of training with materials provided by Haines Solar Cookers. The training gave each of the twenty participants a training manual and workbook filled with illustrations and an explanation of the science behind solar cooking. Participants spent each day using groceries that had been purchased at the local market each morning. Participants cooked various types of food such as cake, bread, beans, meats, and various traditional dishes. Each day covered a different aspect of learning about solar cooking. A WhatsApp group was also created at the end for the participants to share their solar cooking photos, answer questions, and offer encouragement. At the end of the cooking workshop, some participants said that the food that had been solar cooked tasted better than fire-cooked food. This showed that the Haines Solar Cookers can be made by the participants with the materials that were provided and that solar cooking can be used to cook a variety of food such as cakes and breads.