Sustainable Stoves for Africa Organization Founded in LFP

Green Energy Without Borders was founded by Yusuf Tura, an Ethiopian who was brought to Oregon from a refugee camp in southern Ethiopia.

He has developed a stove design to address the needs of Africans for an inexpensive way to cook food without adding to the devastating problem of deforestation. His stove is designed to burn specially created briquettes, which are made of locally accessible waste materials, and burn for four hours. They do not emit the smoke of traditional wood fires, saving people from respiratory illnesses as well as deaths and injuries associated with open fires.

Additionally, these stoves create many jobs for local people to earn a good income from. The stoves are entirely built by hand. They use a ceramic inset to house the briquettes, which are generally made by women. This allows them to work from home while earning a livelihood and taking care of their children. Making the briquettes employs people as well, as does the collection of the raw materials and the distribution of finished stoves.

Over sixteen thousand stoves have been created to date. With this success and the ongoing creation of stoves, Yusuf is now formalizing the organization to be able to attract the help needed to expand this to many new places.

Given the immediate health benefits gained from using this stove, employment opportunities, and an answer to deforestation, Yusuf has high hopes of contributing to creating a better world for as many people as possible, wherever it is needed.

You can follow them on Facebook at Green Energy Without Borders.

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