The Eva Demaya centre donated rocket stoves to three secondary schools, where student can stay in hostels.
A rocket stove is a iron cooking device with an built-in cooking pot. The device is constructed to use very little wood, and to produce very little smoke and yet have a hot fire.
A secondary school education is of great importance for Malawian juveniles to develop themselves to be economically independent.
In the catchment area of the Eva Demaya Centre 8 secondary schools can be found.
Each community is very proud of its secondary school and it is the community that takes care that the schools remain to function well. In Bembe inhabitants even built the school themselves and in 2 others places such an initiative is started.
A recent trend is the building of sleeping facilities or hostels at 3 secondary schools in the area. Students who attend the school can stay on the campus, so they do not have to undertake the long foot walk home on a daily basis.
But internal stay also implies taking care of 3 meals a day for the students. Until now the meals where prepared on an traditional open wood fire, whit a cook pot on three stones with the fire in the middle. This way of cooking uses much wood, which is both expensive and corrodes the environment.
The schools who now exploit the rockets stoves react enthusiastically: the board is happy because costs are lowered, the work needed for cooking is more easy now and students appreciate the meals. Large winners are the health of people and the environment due to the decrease of erosion and less production of carbon dioxide.