 |
Dear Ms. Tierney (rtierney@iocc.org),
My name is Kat Prentice and am writing to you regarding the IOCC's response to the Haiyan disaster in the Philippines. I am not sure whether your response involves people on the ground, or the support of other NGOs such as the International Red Cross/Red Crescent, etc.
If your response involves the actual delivery of relief supplies, I wanted to bring to your attention the wealth of information available at the Solar Cooking Wiki that could be extremely useful to your staff, and which your staff can use to bring relief to people whose power, water and fuel infrastructures have been heavily damaged.
In the short-term, solar cooking and other integrated cooking methods provide means for people to safely heat and cook food with a much reduced need for fuel such as wood, natural gas, etc.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, solar cooking/integrated cooking provide a means for people to pasteurize water. With a simple and inexpensive Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI) and access to the sun (or an efficient stove, such as the Rocket stove, which can be built out of 16 bricks), people can ensure that they and their families have access to safe water:
I am sure that you can see how immediately useful such technology can be to people who have lost their homes and who no longer have guaranteed access to critical needs such as potable water.
The best thing about many of these solutions is that they can be constructed out of locally available or -scroungeable materials, reducing the cost to your organization and increasing local involvement and acceptance.
As a side note, the name of the Wiki and the organization makes it sound as if SCInet is only interested in Solar Cooking. This is not actually the case. The organization supports and provides information regarding a full range of integrated cooking methods:
- Solar cooking
- Fuel-efficient stoves
- Heat-retention cooking
There are many dedicated volunteers who can provide you with information and instructions, and who can help you develop Church-based volunteer efforts (for example, having Church groups assemble WAPIs out of kits, construct solar ovens, etc.).
Please visit SCInet at: http://solarcooking.wikia.com to learn more.
Thank you for your time!
Sincerely,
-- Katjo.Mencanto (talk) 22:25, November 10, 2013 (UTC)