Have a Fundraiser to Protect Women and Girls

The closest danger I have ever seen to a woman's life when cooking her supper was when a woman's gas stove exploded. I can't imagine being in danger every time I prepared to fix my supper, but it happens! In Chad, refugee woman and their daughters risk their lives to collect the firewood needed to cook their meals. Now, with your help, their lives can be spared with solar cooking!

When woman in the refugee camps across from the Sudan go to gather wood, they often beaten, raped and branded by bandits or Janjaweed militia supported by the Sudanese. The answer is a solar cooker made from cardboard boxes and aluminum foil. It not only removes a danger from the women, it also benefits their health by killing disease-causing microbes in the water. Go to the website in the links below and read all about this wonderful program.

The easiest way to help is to donate money. Thirty dollars will supply a family with two of these amazing solar cookers as well as two pots and two pot holders. They also receive a year-long supply of plastic bags. The group distributing the cookers also offers skills training for the refugee women and girls. One woman reported that, with her new skills of making and selling solar cookers, she was able to provide food for her family. If you would like a huge result and help in a great way, host an event and invite a speaker from their organization to speak. The meeting can be at your home, in your place of business, at the local school, in a public library or in a synagogue or church. They will teach those in attendance about the genocide in Darfur and how you can help. You could charge an admission fee and donate the money for solar cookers.
You can also help by organizing a fundraiser. You can help bring solar cookers to these women by working in your own neighborhood. You will know what will work best for your area. They suggest the following ideas: BBQ, bake sale, car wash, dinner or movie party. A large garage sale is an other possibility. Make it fun and work with someone you enjoy. Engage your kids. This is something we can all do to make an important difference in the life a girl or a woman.  My students and I collected change for one month and bougt five units! It is amazing that something as simple as a cardboard box and aluminum foil can make such a difference. They say it takes longer to cook the food but the smoke is gone and the food tastes better. It is also said that they cook faster because they don't have to collect the wood first. And, of course, the benefit of safety for themselves and their daughters make the entire experience a beautiful thing.

Read more and see a video at::  http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/

Clip art from: http://www.clker.com/clipart-