As I sit on the guesthouse veranda, listening to the neighborhood children play on a Sunday afternoon, I reflect on my first month in Northern Uganda. Since embarking on this new chapter in my life as the Program Manager in Lira for International Lifeline Fund (ILF), several interesting experience comes to mind. However, one such experience strikes me as first and foremost important to share as it reflects on ILF’s overall goals in Uganda as well as my inspiration for being here.

International Lifeline Fund has truly made a name for itself as the fuel efficient stove people, otherwise known as the “Okelo Kuc” (meaning the one who brings peace), in Uganda. I saw this first hand after taking part in a monitoring exercise with our World Food Programme (WFP) partners and their external consultants when visiting 3 villages in Barr Sub-County two weeks ago.

We arrived to a group of ToTs (trainer of trainers), community leaders, and community members (primarily women) representing the 3 targeted villages to collect feedback from the first villages to have benefitted from the fuel efficient rural stove project in partnership with WFP.  As I am new to ILF and to the rural stove model that ILF offers, I was there to learn and gather information on what the communities have felt about their new household mud stoves. I also wanted to find out if the stove has had any real impact in their daily lives.

The consultants asked the group whether they appreciated the project, and if so why or why not? They also asked what exactly has ILF helped to address. Obviously, these kinds of open ended questions allow for all kinds of responses, so I was a bit skeptical of what people would have to say. However, to my surprise – there was not a single negative thing to say about their new ILF stoves.  One woman stated that she really appreciates the stove and now does not have to constantly feed the fire. Now she can cook and leave the food without having to constantly add wood and in the meantime she goes to the garden to work. She then returns and the food is ready to serve and she is very happy about this.

I think my favorite response was, “now food tastes much better, has a nice flavor and no longer tastes like smoke as compared to food that was cooked using the 3 stone stove. This is because food is less contaminated with smoke”.

One response in particular demonstrates just how important this project is and directly supports ILF’s overall goals in Uganda. A village leader stated that, 20 years ago, their communities used to cut fewer trees. Then with the many IDP camps and the humanitarian situation that arose, they begin cutting many trees and had to travel longer distances to find fire wood. Now that the humanitarian emergency has ended, the communities have realized that they want to return to 20 years ago with having many trees. They are now working towards replanting trees and bringing them back, and the stove helps to address this.

Thus, it can be said that – the addition of ILF’s fuel efficient rural mud stoves in the targeted households, the trainings and awareness campaigns on the benefits of the stove and the positive environmental impacts that have come forth through this project – ILF rural stoves have addressed several underlying issues at the village level.

Further, ILF is not an organization that imposes anything on anyone. Rather its beneficiaries have openly expressed gratitude and appreciation for this project as they can directly see, feel and experience the various benefits that the stove has in their daily lives. And for that, it gives me great joy to know that as we continue to roll out the ILF/WFP rural stove project, more communities will be able to directly benefit from what ILF’s fuel efficient rural mud stove has to offer. Although the name “Okelo Kuc” actually refers to ILF’s charcoal stove and not the rural mud stove – its design and aims are the same. Communities and individuals that have benefited from the fuel efficient rural stove are calling it their “Okelo Kuc” and for that, ILF has made a name for itself as the fuel efficient stove people of Uganda.

This monitoring visit not only provided me with the valuable information on the benefits of the “Okelo Kuc” but I also reminded me why I live in Africa and why I believe in what we do at International Lifeline Fund.

Nate Antoccia                                                                                                                     Environmental Program Manager                                                                                                        Lira, Uganda