In sub-Saharan Africa, 609 million people cook over an open fire, and women can spend up to 20 hours per week collecting fuel to cook their family meals. Before Sarah was introduced to a clean cookstove, she was no different. The long hours she spent in search of cooking fuel in northern Kenya left her little time to do anything else.
For most of her life, Vandana used a traditional mud stove to prepare daily meals for her family in Jagdishpur, India here. The smoke from the open fire made it difficult for her children to do their school work inside the house and affected Vandana’s health. Daily exposure to harmful smoke is greatest among women and young children, who spend the most time near open fires tending to the family meal or studying by the weak light of the fire. Vandana wanted a better life for her children.
Close to three billion people — nearly half the world’s population — still rely on solid fuels to cook their meals, emitting harmful smoke and compromising the health of entire families.
Julia Roberts states firmly, "I believe that cooking shouldn’t kill. Don't you?" Watch this video and learn about how clean cooking solutions (both stoves and fuels) can help save lives.
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