Meet the Maasai

Meet Maasai Mama Mbarakwo Moikan, customer in Enguiki Village

Meet Maasai stove owner

Meet Maasai Mama Mbarakwo Moikan.  While Maasai Stoves & Solar staff visited her village of Enguiki in the Monduli Juu district of Tanzania to gather information about stove usage, Mama shared her story. Here is an excerpt translated from Maa, the Maasai language

Firstly, The smoke is gone. All problems which my family was facing because of the smoke are gone. For example, before I had this ICSEE Stove, my eyes were itching. Each week we had to take one of my kids to hospital because of the coughing problem, but now we don’t have those problems anymore. So I believe that the source of those problems was the presence of smoke inside our house.

Secondly, I don’t go to the bush too much to gather wood because of this ICSEE stove. I used to go for five hours each time. Now I only go two times in a week instead of four, which I was going before I had this stove.

Thirdly, is this extra time which I am getting to be in my farm because I don’t spend four days only gathering wood.

Look, now it is raining. It is a time for us to be in farms to plant crops. I am spending this extra time in my farm.

Fourthly, my house is clean now because of this stove.This was the thing which made me tell my son to sell one of my goats so I can have this stove.

I had visited my neighbor and found her house very clean, especially the ceiling, and I asked her why her house was so clean. She told me that it was because of the new stove. She had no black soot which normally made the roof look black and smell bad.

Fifthly, my house stays warm for longer than when I had the three stone fire.

 I like this stove so much. I have had it since March 2011.