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Archive for December, 2010

Fri 17 Dec 2010

Woodland Hills – Champions for Children

The following is a press release statement issued by Woodland HIlls – Champions for Children:

Girls in residential care at Woodland Hills created batches of soup on December 7th as a fundraiser for the Darfur Stoves Project. The girls need to make enough soup to fill 61 orders they received from the public. Money raised will be used to purchase energy-efficient stoves, which will minimize the number of trips Darfuri women have to make through dangerous conditions in search of firewood needed to cook for their families.

It is a project the girls, known by their residential group name of Lakers, eagerly support. All of the girls themselves have experienced dangerous conditions. Their treatment at Woodland Hills is helping them to heal, learn responsibility and be empowered to change themselves and the world. The Darfur Stove Project allows them to do just that. They’ll work with Woodland Hills’ chef Colleen Betts to cook the chicken noodle soup using a secret recipe that boasts healing and immune-boosting powers. The girls are excited and proud for the task as they’ve raised enough money to purchase 23 stoves for Darfuri women.

Woodland Hills is a private non-profit organization dedicated to empowering, healing and teaching responsibility to children and adolescents from throughout Minnesota. The multi-faceted agency provides a continuum of services for young people, ranging from an after-school program for marginalized youth, to mental health and behavioral treatment programs in school and residential settings, to a semi-independent living skills program for adolescents aging out of systems of care.

More information on Woodland Hills and its programs is available at (218) 728-7500 or www.woodlandhills.org.

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Sun 05 Dec 2010

DSP Executive Director Shares Stories From Her Trip

Letter from the Executive Director

Earlier this month, I visited our projects in Darfur. During my three-week trip, I spent countless hours with women who, for the past six months, have cooked each day with the Berkeley-Darfur Stove. These women–Zakia, Atima, Hawa, Mariam, and many others–told me how their stove saves them time and money, and is less smoky than cooking over a three-stone fire. They are able to feed their family more and take some much-needed rest in their daily struggle.

I also spent several days working with our partners, Oxfam America and Sustainable Action Group, to analyze data we collected in our surveys of stove users. We looked at the responses of 100 women in January 2010, right before they received their Berkeley-Darfur Stove, and compared them with responses of the same women six months later. These surveys allow us to understand the collective impact of our stoves. Here are some of the changes we found:

  • Women report an average reduction in firewood expenses of 66%
  • Half of the women who were collecting firewood are now able to afford the smaller amount they need and have ceased venturing into unsafe areas for wood
  • Before receiving the stove, 80% of the women were concerned about their exposure to smoke during cooking. Six months after receiving the Berkeley-Darfur Stove, this number dropped to 28%

These women need our support so they can provide food to their families in a safer, healthier, and less environmentally damaging way.

- Andree Sosler

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