“Die Ofenmacher”

(which is German for “oven makers”). And that’s exactly what these guys are doing in Ethiopia, Nepal, you name it.

Let them explain themselves: “In most rural households in developing countries an open fire in the living room is used for cooking. This is dangerous especially for small children who can fall into the fire and suffer severe injuries. Living in the smokey environment causes respiratory problems for everyone in the long term. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 4.3 million people a year die prematurely from illness attributable to the household air pollution caused by open fires for cooking”.

So they started building simple, cheap and healthy ovens. Volunteers travel to the country and teach people to build their own, and how to cook with them. So far, they have already equipped way over 100.000 households. I really do like the idea to improve the life of many people by simple means – so just check out their website:

https://ofenmacher.org/index.php?cID=150