Sunseed Tanzania Trust NEWSLETTER Jan 2008

STT has launched the third phase of the Domestic Energy Programme (DEP III) This has been made possible thanks to a grant of £20,000 from the Isle of Man Development Fund and other smaller grants from the Kitchen Table Trust, Alexi Marmot Associates, William Bordass Asso-ciates and the Just Trust. and the generous sponsorship of Matt Easter’s sister’s wedding and Charlotte’s marathon run. During this phase STT will work in 10-12 villages and help community stove builders, community workers and schools to deliver between 3,500-4000 energy efficient Mud Rocket stoves; establish 22 nurs-eries and plant up to 120,000 my-corrhiza inoculated tree seeds. The Launch on Saturday 17th No-vember, held at Membe, after a week of rain was blessed with blue skies and sunshine. The bright yel-low STT banner flew surrounded by hundreds of balloons. The 20 Membe stove builders, dressed in their bright yellow shirts rushed about carrying, organising, prepar-ing food, and greeting the es-teemed guests – chief of whom

were Mrs Orota, Senior Regional Technical Officer, representing the Regional Administrative Secretary and Mrs Pasipanofu, representa-tive of the Director of Chamwino District, as well as various other District, Divisonal, Ward and Vil-lage leaders. Sadly, the audience was missing. The launch was all dressed up with nowhere to go….. until the dancers started. The Sarayi dance group clad in animal furs, bells, drums and whistles made sure that the party got started. People emerged from nowhere and set-tled in the shade of the trees around the school. The Village Executive Officer and Chairman started proceedings. After the introductions were com-pleted the dance group enter-tained everyone again until it was Sheilah’s turn to speak. All the speeches by the honoured guests (which were begun with the obligatory ‘Membe Hoy!’ and raised fists) were inspirational and informed. The dance group fol-lowed with songs relating to the

DEP III LAUNCH

In this Issue Page 2 DEAR SUPPORTER 3 MEET THE NEW TEAM 4 FAREWELL TO CAT & VICTORIA MEET THE TRUSTEES 5 KENYA STOVE PROJECT VISIT 6 Technical Notes:

DEP III BASELINE SURVEY URBAN PROJECT—URBAN APPRAISAL MYCORRHIZA CROP TRIALS BAOBAB—A SYMBOLIC TREE THE ROCKET MUD STOVE

8 DEP III PILOT 9 TRUSTEES VISITS TO DODOMA Connections:

GEOFF BEAUMONT 10 Field Interview:

MGOWELA FAMILY 11 NUPTIAL FUNDRAISER MARATHON EFFORT BARCLAYS BANK MICRO- FINANCE RESEARCH 12 STUDENTS ON PLACEMENT CANADIAN STUDENTS VISIT

The Membe village dance group ‘Sarayi’ (Planet) Drumming at the Launch

Funding We have reported good news on funding in this issue. How-ever we have had to buy a new vehicle as the Regional Admin-istrative Secretary can no longer lend us one. This has involved a heavy expenditure. Also we have to keep the funds coming in if we are to keep up with demand for rocket stoves, wonder baskets and new nurs-eries. Therefore the need for more funds is relentless. We have no sponsorship ideas in the pipeline – any ideas? Can you or someone you love or know sponsor an event or take part in an event and be spon-sored? Any good runners, cake makers, cyclists, any more weddings?

Continued on page 11

2

Dear STT Supporter, A great deal has happened since I last wrote. Most importantly we have launched the third phase of the Domestic En-ergy Programme (DEP III). In addition, Justin and Lesley visited the GTZ project in Kenya and brought back details of a revised version of the rocket stove. This, as we hoped, is proving to be very efficient with a 40-50% saving in the wood used compared with the traditional cooking fire. It also has all the earlier benefits of the Lorena in terms of improvements in health. Further, since June the team has been busy undertaking a baseline evaluation of our work in three villages, efficiency testing our new stove, and piloting the changed approach to the delivery of DEP III. All these are reported elsewhere in the newsletter. We have said goodbye to Cat, who is now working as a Projects Administrator and Research Officer in Con-structing Excellence (London UK) and Victoria, who has just left to join the African Union in Ethiopia as a policy offi-cer. We welcomed Lesley Waller in June – since when she has been incredibly busy in the field, testing, training and promoting the new stoves. Anna Tracy joined us in October and is settling in well. Justin (Chidawali) is now officially our Senior Project Officer. Mike and Bridget Bridgwater made their annual visit to the project in the summer and were kept busy supporting Lesley with the stove testing, working on the baseline study and supporting Victoria with the ur-ban project appraisal. In addition to our resident staff, we also welcomed four undergraduate students from the Institute of Rural De-velopment Planning, who worked with STT on the baseline study. They did a great job and in so doing gained good experience. As a result of all this activity, during June and July our very small office was bursting at the seams. Thanks to the Resgional Administrative Secretary – who lent us an additional room – everyone managed to find a seat and desk. I have just returned from a very busy and enjoyable 3-week stay in Dodoma where I worked with the team to plan for next year. The highlights of my stay were the one day DEP III launch at Membe and a visit to a session of Tan-zania’s Parliament as the guest of an ex student of mine – Hon. Beatrice Shellukindo who is now an MP. The icing on the cake was that while there I met another old colleague, Dr Kigoda, now also an MP. We worked together in the early 1990s. As always I cannot finish my letter without saying a hearty thank you to all those who support STT’s work in Tanzania and the UK. This year I start with giving my thanks to two very good friends in Tanzania: Mr Mchome the Regional Administrative Secretary of Dodoma Region, our very good friend and mentor who continues to provide his support in so many important ways; also our Tanzanian patron, Mr Mbenna, who provides tireless support and advice from his base in Dar Es Salaam. In the UK the list is so long that I can only note groups of people rather than individu-als. These include our trustees (and former trustees) and the volunteers who support them; and all of you who give so generously to STT and thus help the poor households in the Dodoma Region. I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and I wish you a Peaceful New Year Dr Sheilah Meikle Chair of Trustees

STOP PRESS The team is

getting bigger Because we are trying to deliver as many as 750-1000 stoves per quarter as well as work in Cham-wino ward in the Dodoma capital. STT has taken the decision to enlarge its team in Dodoma. We are still in the process of inter-viewing but have offered jobs to two women. Hopefully one or more will be part of the team by the end of January. More about them and what they are doing in the June edition

Carbon Off-setting Alexi Marmot and Associates are off-setting their carbon dioxide by sponsoring our nurseries. Have you thought of off-setting your car-bon dioxide by contributing to STT? Our improved stoves save 1 tonne of carbon dioxide a year. That means for £10 you can offset some of the carbon dioxide you are generating every year. Or you can contribute something to our tree seedling nurseries. In the next year we plan to plant 100 -120,000 mychorriza inoculated tree seeds and the weather permitting trans-plant around 100,000 tree seed-lings.

We hope you enjoy the STT news-letter, but would welcome any sug-gestions for improvements. Let us know what you think—about the overall length, frequency, amount and type of information included in articles.

3

LESLEY WALLER PROJECT OFFICER

After com-pleting a degree in geology, I spent six months in Tanzania in 2003 with Stu-dent Part-nersh ips

Worldwide (SPW). I worked in the Iringa region with Tanzanian vol-unteers to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and carry out projects for sustainable development. This experience motivated me to work in International Development. I gained further voluntary experi-ence in the UK both with Christian Aid and as a Project Assistant for Uganda with the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET). In October 2006, I completed an MSc with distinction in Environ-mental Resources Management and Development at the University of Wales Swansea. The course included three weeks practical ex-perience in Orissa India where I conducted field research into the impact of pollution on health. My dissertation researched conflict and mental health in northern Uganda, and was inspired by the work of THET in developing com-munity mental health care in Adju-mani District. These opportunities have increased my understanding of diverse cultures and strength-ened my commitment to develop-ment. In April 2007, I joined the board of directors for I-HUG, which is work-ing to provide sustainable educa-tion to orphans and disadvantaged children in Uganda. I joined STT, as a project develop-ment officer, in June 2007 and have so far gained valuable ex-perience in project planning and management. Working with STT provides an excellent opportunity to contribute both to improving the environment and livelihoods.

Meet the New Team JUSTIN CHIDAWALI SENIOR PROJECT OFFICER

I was born in Nzuguni V i l l a g e , Dodoma, moving to Mpwapwa d i s t r i c t while at p r i m a r y school. In 1989 I

joined Folk Development College Chisalu-Mpwapwa for two years course in general Agriculture. After I finished my training I was em-ployed by the Anglican Diocese of Central Tanganyika at Chamhawi Christian and community develop-ment centre as Farm Manager and Agricultural teacher. In July 1991 I was transferred to Buigiri School for the Blind, where I worked as a farm manager and taught Agriculture for Agricultural Rehabilitation Centre for adult blind people. In 1996-1997 I did a Diploma course (in General Agri-culture) from (Glasgow) Interna-tional Correspondence Schools. While at Buigiri, I met Geoff Beau-mont from Sunseed Desert Tech-nology. When Geoff explained to me that SDT was going to start building solar cookers I was very interested. My knowledge of the area and my Agricultural experi-ence made me suitable to work with SDT, so I became part time liaison officer, whilst continuing to work for the Diocese. In 2000 STT sponsored me to visit the UK and Spain. It was the first time I had ever left Tanzania. It was a good opportunity for me be-cause I visited important places, e.g. Royal Kew botanical gardens. In 2003 I began work with SDT’s Donald Lunan, researching my-corrhizae inoculation of trees, and in 2004 I became SDT’s consult-ant to the Mycorrhizae project. In 2006 I was employed by STT as Technical officer, becoming Senior Project Officer recently. I am now studying for a diploma in ecology through Stonebridge Associates.

ANNA TRACY PROJECT OFFICER

Having ar-rived in Tanzania in O c t o b e r 2007 I’m the newest member of the STT team. Last year I

completed my MSc in Develop-ment Management at the London School of Economics. The course was an attempt on my part to try and structure the ideas and aspira-tions I had gained during two years of volunteer work in South Africa and Peru. My undergraduate degree was in Politics and Economics. I was for-tunate enough to spend one year of my BSc studying at the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley which was when I was introduced to de-velopment studies and Africa. After my degree I found a way to get to South Africa which had held my interest for two years by that point and volunteered with Student Partnerships Worldwide as a peer educator in a community based HIV/AIDS education project. After 9 months with SPW carting buck-ets of water up the hill to drink and facilitating hundreds of participa-tory workshops, I was inspired to continue working in the area and helped support the development of some small enterprises with the help of a local NGO. Not wanting to stop there I went onto Peru and facilitated the take-off of a fair-trade organisation called FINCA Peru Exports which is linked to the micro-finance bank FINCA. I returned to the UK brimming with ideas which I inflicted on my fellow students at the LSE. I’m grateful to STT for giving me the chance to take the next step in my career and I’m excited about the work I’m going to do for which I feel both ready and capable.

4

BRIDGET BRIDGWATER I passed through Dodoma (on a train) en route to take up my first job in 1954! I'd joined the Colo-nial Service and was to teach at Tabora Girls School where the very first girls in the country had taken School Certificate only the previous year. I taught for 6 years, the last 2 years being at Mpwapwa, 60 miles from Dodoma, where I met and married Mike. After we came back to UK in 1965, I had several years at home with our 3 children, but later re-

invented myself as an English Second Language Teacher and was a full time lecturer at our local FE College in Leamington Spa. I wasn't able join Mike when he went as a Sunseed volunteer to make so-lar cookers at Buigiri near Dodoma in 1996, but we both went the following year, as we made a useful Swahili speaking team, Sunseed started to use us as their representatives in dealing with officials, finding partners, etc etc. We have spent time in Tanzania every year but one since then and seen enormous changes and development in STT and Tanzania.

Meet the Trustees

MIKE BRIDGWATER I joined the Veterinary Department in Tanzania in 1957 and after training at the livestock research centre in Mpwapwa was sent to a then remote area (where there were no other senior staff) to cope with cattle markets (lots of safari) and dis-ease control, (burying cows dead from anthrax!) so I had to learn swahili and to take on a lot of responsibility fast! After our marriage we were in the area east of

Lake Victoria and after another leave I transferred to Agricultural Develop-ment including grassland improvement and cotton growing projects and later became Regional Agriculture Officer. We came back to UK in 1965 and after a year at Teaching college I got a job teaching Livestock Management for several years and then I joined the Agricultural Training board as Training Designer researching, writing and testing training materials used by trainers in colleges and on farms. After early retirement at 60 I was free to get involved with STT together with Bridget and we became Trustees and visited our partners most years to guide and train their staff and to look into the possibility of widening our scope to include improved stoves and tree planting. Recently we have seen staff living in Dodoma doing a great job expanding and improving the work of STT.

Farewell to Cat... S i n c e my con-t r a c t e n d e d with STT in July 2007 I j o i n e d C o n -structing E x c e l -lence, a

not-for-profit organisation based in London, as part of the Sustainabil-ity team, working on research, re-port-writing, administration, events coordination and networking. I also Chair the internal sustainabil-ity group, which works to promote sustainable practices in the or-ganisation. I feel very positive about my ex-perience with STT, as it gave me great insight into the inner working of small NGOs on the ground, as well as the issues involved with development work in the field. I found it challenging and fulfilling that I was able to use the skills I gained in my International Devel-opment Masters degree, such as participatory tools and techniques. In the future, I hope to broaden my skills while working with Construct-ing Excellence with the view to move towards research, monitor-ing and evaluation and project co-ordination within social develop-ment.

…...& Victoria Who ex-t e n d e d her 12 m o n t h contract by two m o n t h s and left STT in N o v e m -ber. After

Christmas in London with her fam-ily, she took up a 1-year contract with African Union in Ethiopia as Policy Officer. Victoria says “My work with STT, for which my Masters Degree and previous work experience proved

vital, was a very rich experience. I witnessed the positive difference the DEP makes to peoples’ lives. The economic, social and environ-mental benefits are enormous and support the Tanzanian govern-ment’s efforts to reduce poverty. The experience reinforced to me that development must be people centred, focused on building ca-pacity, based on local involvement

and working with communities to better cope with 21st century chal-lenges. I feel privileged to have been part of a team working to that end.” Cat and Victoria worked with STT Dodoma at a very busy time of change. The trustees thank them both for their enthusiasm, commit-ment and very hard work whilst in Dodoma.

5

By Lesley Waller and Justin Chidawali STT aims to deliver the best possible stove to villag-ers. This means that the stove should use as little wood as possible while also removing smoke from the kitchen. The ‘improved rocket mud stove’ was identi-fied as a possible alternative to the adapted Lorena that STT had been promoting. Thus on July 9th 2007, we visited Kisii, Kenya to learn about these stoves, in-cluding how to build them, from a project being imple-mented by a German organisation, GTZ in collabora-tion with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, PSDA (Promotion of Private Sector Development in Agricul-ture). It was also an opportunity to see the different elements of the project that contributed to the success-ful delivery of over 9,000 rocket mud stoves in 2006 and to learn how they could inform STT’s own stove programme. We were warmly welcomed by the GTZ. We spent five days in the field where we met stove recipients, stove builders and government workers. The house-holds we visited seemed genuinely happy with the stove and spoke of the benefits of reduced firewood, no smoke and safety for children. Most of the stoves we saw were currently in use or showed signs of re-cent use. The GTZ stove programme operates on a commercial basis, as builders are trained to build the rocket mud stoves and then negotiate a price with the customer. The price reflects the customer’s ability to pay and can be an in-kind contribution. All the money is retained by the builder, enabling the project to be sustainable as an income generating activity. As many people in Kisii have to buy firewood if it is not available on their land, buying an improved stove saves them money.

GTZ Kenya attributes the success of the programme in Kisii to a combination of: • Good collaboration between GTZ, the ministry of

agriculture and other participants • Committed team (experienced and focused on

getting results) • Good support from the management • Giving skills directly to the community (train on

the ground then monitor skills and their applica-tion) and tailoring training to the appropriate level.

• Effective sensitisation and mobilisation of key stakeholders, including local leaders.

• Piloting within a small area before scaling up. However, the context in Kisii is different from that found in Dodoma region. In the former there is ample rain all the year; reliable cash crops; no free source of firewood; and well developed schools, health services and infra structure. While the latter is dry for most of the year and consequently there are no reliable cash crops; there is access – at a distance – to free wood; with fewer schools and poorer infrastructure and therefore there are logistical challenges to implement-ing a successful project of this nature. Despite these differences and potential challenges, the visit to Kenya was an excellent learning opportu-nity and we took away key lessons that have been in-corporated into the development of STT’s new strat-egy in DEP III: Following our return from Kenya, it was our turn to get our feet muddy and practise building the new stove. We faced challenges in adapting the stove to the Do-doma context. We had to find a suitable replacement for the banana stems used to mould the fire chamber and hot gas passages; and for the metal fire shelf in the Kisii version. Eventually we found that plastic pipes and sulphate sacks could be combined to create the right sized spaces and a pottery shelf provided an income opportunity for the village potters and a satis-factory replacement. After a lot of hard work, we were ready to start training stove builders in the villages with the start of the DEP III pilot.

Many thanks to the GTZ team, for their gener-ous hospital-ity and for sharing their exper ience with us to enable us to move DEP III forward.

Kenya Stove Project Visit

Kisii children with their Improved Rocket Mud Stove Lesley, Naomi Chidawali

and Salome Wani prepar-ing mud for building a

Rocket stove

DEP III Baseline Survey By Victoria Forster-Jones Between July and August STT completed a seven week baseline study in three villages (Nghome, Nghulabi and Chololo). The study assessed the strengths, weak-nesses, challenges and opportuni-ties resulting from DEP II. To do this it examined both the delivery process and the quality of the stoves built. The team, led by Victoria (STT), included four environmental man-agement undergraduate students (on work experience) from the In-stitute of Rural Development Plan-ning (IRDP) in Dodoma, Mr Sudda (DODEA), with some input from Mike and Bridget Bridgwater, and village stove builders and village project coordinators as guides. The study used a variety of par-ticipatory tools including household questionnaires (70), focus groups (6), case studies (6) and key infor-mant semi-structured interviews (10). As villages in Tanzania may con-tain as many as 800-1000 house-holds the team had to cover a lot of ground. The team were welcomed by those they interviewed. Many of whom made insightful comments, obser-vations and recommendations. The research findings, which will be published later this year, will inform the design and manage-ment of DEP III.

Technical Notes

6

household questionnaires using maps in Nghome village

Urban Project: Urban Appraisal By Victoria Forster-Jones STT has started the second stage of research into the possibility of under-taking an Urban Project to introduce heat retention cookers (wonder bas-kets) to poor urban householders. The appraisal is being conducted in partnership with the Dodoma Municipal Council (DMC) which has pro-vided a female community development extension officer, Rukia Nyange, to assist one day a week on the project. Research undertaken in 5 wards earlier this year during the first phase showed that poorer urban households are largely dependent either on in-efficient charcoal stoves or traditional three-stone fires and can spent as

much as Tsh 8,000 a week on sacks of char-coal. After analysis of the ini-tial data, Chamwino ward was selected as the ward in which to un-dertake further research. It was chosen because it has high levels of pov-erty and deprivation (the largest squatter area in Dodoma is located in the

ward) and a high level of dependence on charcoal and firewood for cooking. (There is very limited elec-trification in the ward). Fur-thermore, a group of women in Chamwino (known as the Nia Njema group) already make and sell wonder baskets as an income generating activity, albeit with little capital and little support. The research will involve local people so that the findings of the study re-flect their views and suggestions. This will enable the project to be appro-priate for the community and thus encourage the use of the wonder bas-ket. The pilot study will go further by raising awareness and confidence with the wonder basket through training in schools and women’s groups and thus contribute to its sustainability in Chamwino ward. Focus groups have already been held with 5 community development offi-cers from the original five identified wards, as well members of the Nyam-jema group. Further research will be conducted with local people and neighbourhood leaders. When this research is completed, we plan to start a pilot project in the same ward. STT would like to thank the DMC and all those that have been involved in the research to date.

Firewood laid out for sale

Charcoal tins laid out for selling

Mycorrhiza Crop Trials By Justin Chidawali Mycorrhiza is a fungus that lives in healthy soil and helps plants absorb nutrients, and thus become more disease and drought resistant. STT has been inoculat-ing tree seedlings with it. Obed, (the Village Project Coordinator for Manhumbulu village) and I have been trying to start a trial of my-corrhiza-inoculated crops at Manhumbulu village but many things have been happening to stop us from ac-complishing our aims. We planted sweet peppers last year but rains were too much; the area got waterlogged and all seedlings died. After that, we agreed to begin again in the dry season. Obed set up the trap pot in April at his house and Bell pepper seeds were planted at the nursery in the begin-ning of May. He continued looking after them until the 7th of July 2007 when we transplanted the seedlings and planted them out at the trial plot.

We dug the mycorrhiza soil from Obed’s house, trans-ported it to the trial plot, then dug the holes. Obed made 12 small pieces of paper (6 with M-for my-corrhiza and 6 with H for non mycorrhiza), put them into a bag and mixed them, then he picked out one piece at a time. The space between plots was 1 metre on both sides, and once we knew which plot was to be added with in-oculums we added it in the ready dug holes and wa-tered all holes. Then we transplanted the seedlings from the nursery to the divided plots. We planted 108 seedlings in total (means 18 seedlings per plot). After this I was very busy until mid October when I vis-ited Obed to see how the seedlings were doing but I was told that all seedlings had been eaten by goats! Obed has planted more seeds at the nursery. We are now waiting for rains before planting them out because then there will be plenty of water and the animals won’t have to get at the river (where the plot is located) in or-der to get water, and rain will help us to water them.

Technical Notes

Baobab—a Symbolic Tree of Africa

By Justin Chidawali

Botanical name —Adansonia digitata Baobab is the best known tree in African countries south of the Sahara. It is huge and has a very long life span - between 2500-3000 years. The trunk of a big Baobab can range between 6-8m in diameter; that’s why some people say it looks like a water tank. Others think of it as the ‘upside down’ tree. The Baobab tree grows in well-drained soil; it is deep rooted and prefers a high water table. Most parts of the tree are fibrous and contain a lot of water, making it resistant to drought. It has leaves for 3-5 months of the year, but then it sheds them and is bare for 7 months. Baobab bark is smooth and grey in colour. USES OF THE BAOBAB TREE • Fodder (leaves and flowers) for goats and cows. • Bee forage (bees collect nectar to make honey). • Drink - shoots contain water (herders uproot the

young tuberous plant, chew it and suck water). Also you can break the pod and soak seeds to re-move pulp and add sugar to make a tasty juice.

• Elephants eat the bark to quench their thirst. • Food - leaves can be picked and boiled to make

sauce & seeds can be roasted and pounded to make condiments to go with vegetables.

• Boys fill the Baobab pods with milk, leave it until the pulp and seeds are soaked and then they suck them for both food and drink.

• Medicine - the pulp from baobab mixed with maize or millet flour can help to stop diarrhoea.

• Baobab pulp is rich in vitamin C and leaves in iron • The bark can be stripped to make strings for many

different uses e.g. baskets, brooms and ropes. • Habitat for birds e.g. weavers nest on branches,

owls, hornbills, and love birds live in hollow trunks. • Bush-babies, civets, weasels, genets, lizards,

snakes, frogs and toads live in different parts of the tree.

• Baobabs provides shade for social gatherings.

7

Obed digging the inoculums soil from the trap pot

Before launching the domestic energy programme phase three (DEP III), STT undertook a pilot project in 4 villages to test a new process of delivery. The new

process built on learning from the baseline survey and the Kenya visit and was designed to help ensure bet-ter value for money and to enhance long-term sustain-ability. Three villages were selected where DODEA work; Manhumbulu, Nghulabi and Mpunguzi. The fourth, Membe, was new to the Domestic Energy Programme and the first village where STT will deliver directly. A new 5 day training programme was used. This is more intensive than previous training and helps en-sure skills transfer and thus lead to consistency and quality in stove construction. It includes theory and practical sessions. After training there were sensitisation sessions with households and community leaders to promote the new stoves. These were successful and will be re-peated on a regular basis.

8

Cross section of the rocket mud stove (source: Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda & GTZ, 2004, How to Build the improved household stoves: a construc-tion manual for the rocket-lorena and shielded fire stoves)

The rocket mud stove was first developed and suc-cessfully implemented in Uganda. It was then adopted by GTZ Kenya in 2006 in another successful pro-gramme. In Kenya, research has shown that the stoves are 60% more efficient than traditional methods of cooking. A Rocket mud stove is an improved stove made from locally available building materials: • Mud • Dry grass • Mud bricks (or clay fired bricks if available) • Water Because of its internal design it consumes firewood more efficiently than a three stone fire. This means less firewood is needed to cook the same amount of food. The stove also has two holes for cooking pots, which means two things can be cooked at the same time. The Rocket mud stove is an improvement on the previous Lorena stove design with other advantages including: 1. Firewood fuel savings The rocket stoves have the potential to significantly reduce the amount of firewood used in cooking in comparison with the traditional 3 stone stoves. This saves time spent collecting firewood, which can be put to productive use. 2. Smoke reduction The chimney takes smoke outside the house creating a healthier kitchen that helps reduce eye and respira-tory problems, especially among women and children. 3. Easy to operate Once lit the fire does not stop until the firewood feed is stopped. The air passage beneath the fire shelf fans

the flames without the need for blowing 4. Safe to use The fire is shielded and less likely to cause burns to the children and the user. 5. Environmentally friendly The stove consumes less firewood helping to reduce deforestation. The stoves are less polluting because of its nearly smokeless operation. HOW THE ROCKET MUD STOVE WORKS The improved stoves are able to transfer maximum heat to the food because: • At least 90% of the saucepan’s surface area has

contact with the hot gases. • Insulation around the combustion chamber and

fire passages prevents heat from escaping. • The firewood shelf enables air to pass beneath

the wood to fan the flames, creating a strong fire from a small amount of wood.

The Rocket Mud Stove Technical Notes

DEP III PILOT

Stove builders in Membe in training

Sheilah Meikle I have made two visits since the last newsletter, in May and No-vember. I was accompanied for a week of my stay in May by Kerr and in November by Helen (my daughter) and Jim (my husband). On both visits I found the STT team enthusiastic and committed. We worked the usual intensive long days and had some very late evenings. On both occasions I had a number of meetings with old friends including; Mr Mchome (Regional Administrative Secre-tary for Dodoma) and the Institute of Rural Development and Plan-ning (IRDP) Principal and Director of studies. During the May visit I participated in a seminar with Anthropology students from Malaspina Univer-sity Canada, gave a guest lecture on ‘Poverty, Energy and Gender Nexus’ at the IRDP, and visited and worked on both the rural and urban projects. The high points of this trip were giving the lecture at the IRDP and interviewing the four IRDP students who came to work with STT in June. In November I spent some time with Mr Mchome (RAS); visited other organisations; chaired a joint information sharing workshop with DODEA; and worked on all ele-ments of the STT programme. The highlights of my November visit were the launch of DEP III – a truly great experience – and a visit to Tanzania’s Parliament. The launch was an outstanding suc-cess. There is no doubt that gov-ernment, from region downwards, supports what we are trying to do. Many government officials are keen to have their own stove. The parliamentary visit was as the guest of an ex student of mine – Hon. Beatrice Shellukindo who is now an MP. The icing on the cake was that while there I met another old colleague, Dr Kigoda, now also an MP. We worked together in the early 1990s.

Mike & Bridget Bridgwater

Mike and Bridget visited Tanzania from mid June to early August. Mike and Mr Sudda of DODEA spent a week testing 3-stone fires so that their efficiency could be compared with that of the Lorena and the new Mud Rocket Stove. The testing involved recording ex-act weights/quantities/times for the cooking of a 'typical' meal. Mike and Bridget then went on to help build a test Rocket Stove at Justin’s home, and Mike was able to iron out some of the technical problems of adapting the stove to use locally available materials. Mike and Bridget spent a week working with Victoria as she con-ducted her field interviews for the Base Line Study (see article on page 6). Mike asked survey ques-tions, whilst Bridget acted as translator and recorder. The vil-lage was very scattered, so de-spite both being ‘mature’ citizens Mike and Bridget walked long dis-tances to include the more remote homesteads in the survey. Bridget also spent time investigat-ing sources of insulation for the Wonder Baskets to be used in the Urban Project, which proved much more promising than she had thought. One possibility was odd pieces of mattress foam from shops, but she found out that dried grass would also be easily obtainable and quite cheap, brought into Dodoma for sale from a village called Swaswa (though it might be necessary to have some-where to store the grass in the rainy season). Bridget found that the supply of baskets was not a problem. Mike and Bridget dealt with vari-ous problems relating to the STT house, including negotiating with the landlord about getting repairs done and buying a new wardrobe as there are now more people there on a regular basis.

Connections … News from our friends

and supporters Geoff Beaumont

9

Trustees Visits to Dodoma 2007

Geoff worked for Sunseed Desert Technology in Spain as Appropri-ate Technology Co-ordinator from 1993 – 1995, and helped launch STT. He led the first groups of vol-unteers to visit Tanzania where they trialled an ultra-low-cost solar cooker. This technology did not prove suitable, but led to the first Domestic Energy Project. Says Geoff: Since I stopped working for the Sunseed Trust in Spain and Tan-zania, or the nascent Sunseed Tanzania Trust, I’ve continued to be involved on an occasional ba-sis as technical adviser, most re-cently researching improved cooker designs and arranging or assisting cooking efficiency tests. Meanwhile in 1996 I started at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, where I mostly re-searched the way that micron-sized particles get inhaled, and design of economical samplers to follow this characteristic. These are used in the workplace to moni-tor workers’ exposure to dust. I was made redundant from this job in 2002, so we took the oppor-tunity to move to Yorkshire to be near my ageing parents, and I got taken on with an air conditioning manufacturer (TEV Ltd), where I run the development test facility. I am working on testing and devel-oping a domestic air-source heat pump, which can economically supplant many central heating systems, and more than 2/3 of the energy is renewable. I continue to make music in my spare time. My first group, the Ginger Jug Band, re-formed in 2000 and has been doing occa-sional gigs since. I have also joined a local jug band, and play with family members as the Beau-mont Brothers. See Page 11 for more about Geoff‘s music and a special offer!

10

Field Interview

Mgowela Family, Membe Village

Lesley meets Filimoni and Elisia Mgowela, from Membe village in Chamwino District Filimoni and Elisia Mgowela were among the first households in Membe to receive a new rocket stove in September 2007. They have always lived in Membe and have four children, 3 girls and 1 boy. Filimoni is also a stove builder and very active in promoting the rocket stove in the village. Their response to the per-formance of the new stove, like other stove customers has been very encouraging. During efficiency testing at their house, the rocket stove used 40% less wood than the traditional stove. (Questions by Lesley Waller. Responses by Elisia are coded EM and those by Filimoni FM) How did you hear about STT and the rocket stove? EM: I heard through my husband who received a let-ter. FM; I received a letter from our neighbourhood leader asking me to be a stove builder, as each neighbour-hood was asked to provide 2 builders What type of energy source do you use for: Cooking / Lighting / Heating? Firewood for cooking and heating, kerosene and torch batteries for lighting Why do you use these types of energy sources? FM: That is what is available in the area What were some of the disadvantages of using the 3 stone fire, in terms of health, time, food preser-vation, and the environment? EM: The three-stone stove used a lot of firewood. There was a lot of smoke and food took a long time to cook. FM: The new stove is also safe for children, while the traditional stove was very dangerous, so the husband often had to look after the children while his wife was

cooking so they did not get burnt. What were some of the benefits of using the 3 stone fire? EM: It was cheap and easy to light and you can use any sized pot with it. What are some of the benefits of the improved stove in terms of health, time, fuel use, food pres-ervation, and the environment? FM; There is no smoke and cooking time is reduced. EM: It uses a very small amount of wood FM: Because you use a small amount of firewood it helps to reduce environmental destruction. What are some of the disadvantages/problems as-sociated with it? EM: The only disadvantage is that you have to use the same size pots as were measured during the building. How long did it take you to go gather firewood when you had the traditional 3 stone fire? EM: I used to collect two bundles of firewood per week and now only collect one bundle per week. What do you do with the time saved? EM; I use the time to work on the shamba or for housework. What are the problems of using firewood? FM: The forest is far and so collecting wood takes a long time. When splitting wood into pieces, eye inju-ries can occur or cuts from using an axe. Collecting firewood can also be dangerous as sometimes men go to the forest to try and rape the women and occa-sionally there are wild animals, such as snakes, leop-ards and lions. Is there a way to get your voice and opinions to the government about your energy needs? FM: We can present our suggestions at public meet-ings and also to other district leaders when they visit the village. What have been some of the main environmental changes that you have noticed in your village over the years? In the past the environment was good, nowadays the environment has been damaged after people started cutting the forest for farming, hunting and fires made during honey collection. How would you improve the current stove? FM: We plan to plaster the stove with cement so that when the roof leaks, water will not damage the stove. STT would like to thank Filimoni and Elisia for giving their time to conduct the interview, and Justin for translating the responses into English.

The Mgowela Family with their stove—unusually their kitchen is separate from their living space

11

Nuptial Fundraiser

Sunseed Tanzania recently re-ceived a large number of dona-tions from guests that attended the wedding of STT Trustee Matthew Easter's sister. Robert Owen and Sarah Easter were married at St Peters Church, Little Eaton, Derbyshire on June 2. The bride and groom very kindly offered to forego the usual wedding gift list and instead asked guests to donate to STT. Over £2,275 pounds was raised from over 70 guests. Sunseed Tanzania was mentioned in both the groom's and father of the bride's speeches including a plea to fill out the gift aid forms that were sit-ting on a table next to the wedding cake! A number of guests were very interested in the work of the Trust including one who used to live and work in Tanzania. The wedding was a huge success with the reception held on the lawns of Meynall Hall near Derby and everyone who attended had a great time including Matthew's son Jacob who was well turned out in top hat and tails as the page boy. STT would like to extends its thanks to the bride and groom for their generous gesture and all trustees and staff would like to wish the couple a very happy fu-ture together. Matt Easter

Barclays Bank Micro-finance

Research In June STT Dodoma were visited by a Barclays bank research team who were undertaking a study of the need for micro-finance in the Dodoma region and the nature of the organisations currently supply-ing micro-finance in both the rural and urban areas. Barclays’ selec-tion of the Dodoma region was driven in part by knowing of STT’s presence and current work in the region, and in part because Do-doma does not have a strong fi-nancial or business sector com-pared with the two other selected regions of Arusha and Dar Es Sa-laam. STT, with DODEA’s help, provided introductions to various people and organisations. As STT has an interest in micro-finance as an ele-ment of the Urban HRC and stove projects this research, although it is for Barclays, may nevertheless produce useful information for STT.

CD Offer Geoff Beaumont’s bands (Ginger Jug Band; Ugly Mug Jug Band & Beaumont Brothers) all have CDs available. To find out more about them and hear sample tracks visit www.thegingerjugband.co.uk, & myspace.com/uglymugjugband . CDs cost £12 each inc. p&p, and Geoff will donate £5 to STT for each one sold to an STT supporter! Or-ders to geoffbeaumont@tevlimited.com, or 01274 869061

Charlotte Lemanski ran for STT and successfully completed the Leicester marathon on 14th Octo-ber. Thanks Charlotte for all your hard work and to all those who sponsored you.

Charlotte bemedalled

Robert Owen and Sarah Easter

Marathon Effort DEP III Launch (continued from page 1)

stoves, the environment and the stove builders in Membe which helped to really hammer the mes-sage home. The dancing and sing-ing was superb. Throughout the proceedings a group of yellow-shirted experts were building a stove.

After the speeches everyone moved to the house of Filimoni (STT’s stove monitor in Membe) and proud owner of the first stove built in Membe to see a stove in action. Many questions were asked and answered enthusiasti-cally by the builders. Government officials from Chamwino village were so enthused by the stoves that they asked STT to work next in their village. The day finished with a meal dur-ing which Sheilah confirmed that the next village that STT would work in would be Chamwino to much applause. A memorable day that augers well for DEP III.

Leader from Chamwino District speaking at the launch ceremony

and building two rocket stoves • Learning about Mycorrhiza,

what it is, how it is used and its benefits environmentally, so-cially and economically

• Learning how to apply data analysis and how to structure and prepare reports;

• Working in an office • Learning how to undertake

workshop training • Preparing and translating STT

brochures from English into Kiswahili

As shown in some of the students’ own words they were very happy with their experience. “I would like to express my grati-tude thanks to the Management of STT- Dodoma. First and foremost for the nice cooperation we had during the time I had made my field in your company.” (MN) “I am glad to have had this oppor-tunity of saying thanks to the STT staff for the whole 42 days I had been working with them as a placement student from IRDP….. I expect to meet again and I will be glad to work with you to improve the livelihoods of Dodoma commu-nities.” (NS)

12

….and Canadian Students Visit

Too On the 17th May, university under-graduate students from the Univer-sity of Malaspina, Canada visited a STT project village to observe the work of an international NGO in poor rural communities. The students visited Manhambulu village where they were able talk with stove and tree recipients as well as tree nursery groups. This was an opportunity to gain first hand experience and understand-ing of how STT supported projects are delivered and the positive im-pact the low cost improved stove technologies and tree planting has on the lives of local communities, particularly women and children. The students reported that the ex-perience enhanced their learning, by helping them to make stronger links across improved stove tech-nology, tree projects, environ-mental sustainability and commu-nity development; and how inte-grated projects like those of STT aim to tackle not only environment degradation but contribute to so-cial development and poverty re-duction.

Working with people in arid lands to improve the quality of their lives and the productivity of their land. Registered office: 9 North Hill, Highgate, London N6 4AB

Tel: 020 8340 7467 E-mail: info@sunseedtanzania.org Website: www.sunseedtanzania.org UK Charity No: 1061635 Tanzanian Register of Societies No: 9468

For six weeks in Juy and August STT provided practical experience for four 3rd year students from the Dodoma Institute of Rural Devel-opment Planning - Alex Marandu, Agnes Bonface Chawaene, Monica Ntullo and Nassorro Shemzigwa. All the students worked in the STT office and in the field where they interacted with local people from three villages and learnt Kikogo greetings and a few other words in the local language. They also found that working with the staff of STT helped them to improve their English. They all gained a wide breadth of theoretical and practical experi-ence including: • Working with an international

organisation • Undertaking a baseline survey

using research tools such as household questionnaires, case studies, focus group dis-cussions and semi-structured interviews with key informants, participatory map making

• Learning how to make rocket stoves with practical demon-stration [from the STT team]

Tanzanian Students On Placement with STT in Dodoma

IRDP Students with Victoria and Justin outside STT Office

STT’s Cat and Justin, DODEA officials and Canadians with Obed Lameck (Village Project Co-ordinator) at

Manhambulu