Ingemary and Tommy Pettersson donating fuel efficient stoves and GreenTech briquettes to members of Takku Liggey Women Group
Ingemarie and Tommy Pettersson from Sweden came for holidays to The Gambia in December 2011. Dining at the Green Mamba Garden Restaurant, GreenTech’s partner and adjacent sample site, they came across the option to sponsor fuel efficient stoves and briquettes to needy families. GreenTech offered to connect the Swedish couple to a need families of a registered women self support group. The combination of groundnutshell briquettes and compatible fuel efficient stoves is a useful present for any family, who would otherwise cook with firewood or charcoal on the traditional open stove. The innovative cooking unit will not only save trees and mitigate other environmental challenges, but also reduce the users’ cooking fuel cost down to 1/3 of the cost compared to traditional cooking with charcoal on open stoves. A usual cooking unit of twelve adults can thus easily save up to 10.000 GMD (250 Euro) per year, when switching from traditional charcoal cooking to briquettes in fuel efficient stoves.
This is more than half of an average per capita income in The Gambia!
Thus, a small donation can make a huge difference over the years it is used, as the stove basically functions as a saving account for expenses and emissions. The use of it in combination with briquettes will not only contributing to the livelihood development of this particular families, but also to mitigate environmental challenges, as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, desertification and climate change.
For sure, the donation will positively impact on micro and macro level, locally and globally.
GreenTech and “Takku Liggey” women group from Kerr Serign thank Ingemarie and Tommy Pettersson for taking the initiative to sponsor needy families with fuel efficient stoves and groundnutshell briquettes!
The Swedish couple can proudly consider themselves as trendsetter and there is hope that many more visitors will follow their initiative. Anyone interested to sponsor a stove and a starter bag of briquettes for 400 GMD (about 10 Euro), please contact GreenTech Management through this webpage or [email protected], phone: ++220-6662622.