Helping Out In Gandhi’s Home Town

29/03/2011

It’s hard to know where to start in India. There are so many people who need our help; the sheer magnitude of the problem is overwhelming. (Perhaps we should ask Bono to drop by and give the indoor pollution problem some much needed publicity instead of hanging out with celebrity politicians!) But you have to start somewhere and so we began in Gujarat state – home of Gandhi’s birthplace.

The images you see here document the installation of our very first wood fire cook stove into an Indian home – through our Kingdom Diamond Circle of Life program we hope many, many more will soon follow.

When we first entered the home you see in the photos the usual cooking on an open fire was in progress. Even though cooking had just begun the room was thick with smoke that made our eyes water and our throats sore. Breathing was punctuated with much coughing. Once you’ve experienced the problem of having an ordinary open fire in a confined space you can really appreciate why indoor fire pollution is one of the biggest killers in India.

While diseases like AIDS and malaria get the headlines, indoor pollution is quietly killing 1.6 million people every year. That’s a horrifying 1 death every 20 seconds. It’s hardly surprising when you consider that World Energy estimates that the amount of smoke from an open fire in a confined room is the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, everyday. Obviously this is no environment to raise children.

In fact, indoor smoke pollution leading to pneumonia is the biggest killer in children under 5 years of age. The painful symptoms include respiratory infection, ear and eye irritations, chest pains, and severe headaches. It is the highly toxic carbon monoxide created by open fires that causes the problem. One of the compounds in wood, it diminishes the female placental blood and increases her chances of giving birth to a seriously underweight child. It is a vicious circle. The mother must cook to feed her children yet by in doing so on an open fire she is slowly killing her whole family. That’s why the Kingdom Diamonds cook stoves are such lifesavers. They require less wood to create the same heat, and the emissions are very low due to improved mixing of gases, air and flame.

In short, a cook stove is a simple yet highly effective way to help Indian families. Of course this is just the beginning. We don’t underestimate the amount of work ahead of us, and unfortunately we can’t help everyone. But we can try our best. And that’s what we’re busy doing. So please help us spread the word. Together we can change the world.