The Power to Improve Lives
Hello again from Tanzania. Robert Lange on how the work that began with a smoke-free stove keeps taking new forms, from Rwanda to the Restore Project, all with the power to improve lives.
October 24, 2026
We Maasai women aren’t waiting!
Partnering with the International Collaborative, we are working hard for a better life now. Welcome to our Maasai Stoves & Solar Project.
Empowerment is at the core of every aspect of the work of the International Collaborative.
Perhaps you are already aware of the danger of smoke in the homes of pastoral people in the developing world, caused by indoor cooking with open fires. This is a profound international health issue that affects millions. In response, the Maasai Stoves & Solar Project designs and installs clean-burning and efficient wood-burning stoves and solar panel-based electrical systems in the homes of the people. It also enables the installation of settlement-wide solar panel-based micro-grid electrical systems.
Since 2009 the International Collaborative (ICSEE) has focused on the Maasai Stoves & Solar Project.
The work also includes exploration of new livestock practices at the Project’s Manyara feedlot, in response to increasing drought. Safe water is a key focus, through economical, reliable programs. And the Cypress Hill Institute is the International Collaborative’s research and training center, home to experimentation, learning, and community-wide participation.
We Maasai women aren’t waiting! Partnering with the International Collaborative, we are working hard for a better life now.
Nothing helps lift a community from poverty like having electric light at night. Can there be light so far off the national grid? Yes!
Can our stoves save lives? Absolutely! Indoor smoke is a profound international health issue that affects millions in the developing world.
35 children out of 1000 die before the age of five from waterborne disease. We’re working on bringing clean water to the people.
Maasai traditional herding practices are world-famous, but are no longer succeeding in the face of environmental and social changes.
Here in rural sub-Saharan Africa, global warming brings increasingly frequent and severe drought. Read how we work with climate change adaptation in a rain-based economy.
Hello again from Tanzania. Robert Lange on how the work that began with a smoke-free stove keeps taking new forms, from Rwanda to the Restore Project, all with the power to improve lives.
As we awaited dry weather, some initiatives were on hold. Now they’ve resumed, and I am happy to tell you about recent actions. From the time we began these projects, we’ve aimed to develop approaches to drought-proof farming to sustain rural life, even as weather becomes increasingly difficult. Exploring new