Maaka, a German based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has trained 30 women at Gbedema, a community in the Builsa South District in the Upper East Region on cooking energy conservation methods. The two-day skills training programme equipped the women drawn from households within the community on how to make charcoal briquettes, and construct energy cook stoves.
Madam Lariba Arnheim, the Founder of the NGO, in a statement, explained that Maaka, which literally means “Help” in the Buli language, would continue to collaborate with its partners to work in rural communities to reflect its name.
She said the initiative to train the women was intended to help address environmental and global warming issues and expressed the hope that the beneficiaries after the training, would be able to construct their own energy efficient cook stoves.
“These energy efficient stoves can conserve 70 percent of heat that would have been lost to the atmosphere in using our traditional stoves, where we use three stones and plenty of firewood on all sides of the cooking pot.
“This new stove will allow us to use two to three pieces of firewood to cook the family’s meal and still heat water to bathe the children with the remaining heat from the stove,” Madam Arnheim said.
On the preparation of charcoal briquettes, the Founder said the beneficiaries after the training, would be able to turn agricultural waste into charcoal briquettes, and noted that the technique would minimize the felling of trees in the community for charcoal.
She was confident that after the training, the women would be able to convert grass, rice chaff, corn cobs, millet stalks among others into charcoal, instead of burning these sources of energy.
The founder of the NGO urged the beneficiaries to pass on the skills earned to other women in the community, and said “Regular monitoring will be carried out to make sure the group leaders mobilize them to construct their own stoves and also help other women in the community.”
She said apart from the training, her organization had drilled and fitted three boreholes and refurbished a well for the Gbedema community to ease the hitherto water crises in the area.
“As the production of shea butter is a major source of income, Maaka provided a shea butter extraction machine for the Gbedema community while Maaka had supported in the area of sanitation by piloting the construction of micro flush bio-digester toilets for six households,” she said.
Madam Arnheim who was in the company of Madam Christine Adelisui, Managing Director of the NGO, assured the community members that her outfit would continue to work to eradicate open defecation at Gbedema and its surrounding communities.
“Our aim is to showcase the bio-digester technology to our people and train local toilet makers who can in turn help households to build their own toilets,” the Founder and native of the community.
She noted that as part of the training also offered tools to the beneficiaries to enable them to start their own stove construction business, and thanked stakeholders in the area for supporting to facilitate the NGO’s activities to the benefit of the community members and the district.
Mr Michael Anyekase, an Official from Little Drops Ventures in Tamale, Ghana and trainer, urged the women to put the knowledge to good use, and train others in the community. Madam Vida Achalichab, a beneficiary, who spoke to journalists after the training, expressed gratitude to Madam Arnheim and her team for the support, and pledged to put the skill to practice.
Source: GNA.
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