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Water and Hygiene
1. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) projects
Biosand water filter
Contaminated water is poured into the top of the biosand filter at least once per day (but not continuously). The water poured into the top of the filter slowly drips through the holes in the diffuser, and flows down through the sand and gravel. Treated water flows out of the outlet tube.
Filters bring many other benefits, including financial savings as families spend less on fuel for boiling water, health benefits from reducing the impacts of smoke on lungs and eyes, and an improvement in overall health as more people in the extended family have better access to clean water, thus reducing incidences of diarrhea and other water-borne diseases.
2. Energy Conservation Projects
These comprise energy saving cook stoves, charcoal briquettes and fireless cookers promoted both in rural and urban communities.
Briquettes
They are a form of fuel made from biomass, compacted into a mold and burned as an alternative to wood or charcoal. They burn longer than charcoal and firewood of the same volume which makes them cheaper compared to other biomass fuels.
They can be produced locally for domestic use because they are easy to make and adopt. Briquettes also generate income and employment for communities.
Briquettes mean less rubbish because they are made from waste which makes them an environmentally friendly technology.
Fireless cooker
A fireless cooker is a box, basket or any other container filled with insulating material such as dried grass, papers, wood shavings, wool or dry banana leaves. After heating the food up in the usual way, the cooking pot or saucepan is placed in the fireless cooker and covered with a lid also filled with insulating material.
The fireless cooker uses much less fuel than cooking on a fire or stove which is a cheap and an environmental friendly way to cook.
The fireless cooker saves time spent in the kitchen. Water is not lost during the cooking process, so it uses one quarter less water than other cooking methods
Using a fireless cooker is a healthy way to cook. Most of the nutrients in the food are retained, it never burns the food, makes tough food like meat tender and keep food warm for a long time.
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