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Last edited: 6 April 2016      
ChienjoDinah 2005

Dinah Chienjo 2006

After more than six years as Sunny Solutions project officer, Dinah Chienjo left Solar Cookers International (SCI) at the end of June 2009. Dinah is now the director of Friends of the Old (FOTO).

Dinah was selected from a strong pool of candidates to fill the position when it was first announced in 2002. Prior to joining SCI, she had been a high school teacher for a number of years. She had also been active in a number of community organizations focusing on counseling, HIV/AIDS issues, and women’s rights.

Dinah Chienjo 2013

Dinah Chienjo 2013

At SCI, Dinah headed up a team of over 20 women who conducted solar cooker demonstrations, taught solar cooking skills, and sold solar cookers through micro-businesses. She was highly involved in project assessments, and was an advocate for solar cooking at numerous events, on radio programs, and was even featured as an SCI representative in a documentary about Africa conservation projects. Her work took her to various parts of Kenya, Ghana, and even the United States, where she participated in the 15th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and demonstrated the practicality of using solar cookers to international diplomats, United Nations visitors, and a CNN reporter.

Upon learning that she had been hired for the position, Dinah recalled being “excited, but also afraid, barely knowing the challenges that lay ahead. My task as project officer was to work with a local community-based organization called NYACODA, and together we were to introduce a new cooking technology in Nyakach.” She continued, “Years down the line, I have no regrets, I am proud to have been involved as facilitator and a beneficiary of the changes I am witnessing in my community.”

News[]

For the most recent news, see Friends of the Old.
  • August 2008: With support from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the long anticipated “training of trainers” water testing and solar pasteurization workshop was held in June at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu, Kenya. Participants included 20 top staff members each from the Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) and the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MPHS). Solar Cookers International (SCI) staff members Margaret Owino, Faustine Odaba, Elijah Achola, Dinah Chienjo, Simon Ogutu, John Amayo and Karyn Ellis were instrumental in the success of this workshop, as was John Rimberia from Embu. Microbiologist and SCI Board President Dr. Bob Metcalf led the workshop. Topics included a review of bacterial properties and growth, pasteurization principles, use of the bacterium Escherichia coli as a contamination indicator, properties of the Colilert® and Petrifilm™ tests for E. coli, and solar pasteurization using the CooKit solar cooker and SCI’s wax-based, reusable Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI).
  • July 2007: The power of solar...cooking? Taking a closer look at cooking with the sun - ABC12.com
  • July 2007: Video of Dinah Chienjo demonstrating solar cooking in New York - ABC12.com

Audio and video[]

  • March 2014:
Dinah_Chienjo_Visits_Solar_Cookers_International,_March_2014

Dinah Chienjo Visits Solar Cookers International, March 2014

Meet Dinah Chienjo, from Friends of the Old - FOTO, one of Solar Cookers International's Project Partners helping to share solar cooking in Western Kenya. — at Solar Cookers International.

  • 2008
Tusk_Trust_Documentary_-_13_Solar_Energy

Tusk Trust Documentary - 13 Solar Energy

Tusk Trust documentary of introducing the CooKit in Kenya in 2008.

  • 2007
Tusk_Trust_Documentary_-_07_Making_Water_Safe_to_Drink

Tusk Trust Documentary - 07 Making Water Safe to Drink

See also[]

External links[]

Contact[]

See Friends of the Old.