Association des Femmes Ingénieurs du Mali

AFIMA instructors use gesture language to convey solar cooking concepts to deaf and hard-of-hearing women of AMAFH.

Association des Femmes Ingénieurs du Mali (AFIMA) also known as the Association of Women Engineers of Mali works with the KoZon Foundation in promoting solar cooking.

News and recent developments

Mariam Toure proudly serves samples of her solar meal.

• December 2009: Kyoto Twist Solar Cooking Society is working with KoZon Foundation and Association of Women Engineers (AFIMA) to introduce solar cookers in the Yirimadio neighborhood of Bamako, Mali. In 2009, 30 families paid a small fee (US $3) for two CooKit solar cookers that were made by AFIMA, one cooking pot, one large insulated basket (Nafa Saba) for heat-retention cooking, and a Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI). The cooking kits are subsidized by Kyoto Twist donors. AFIMA women selected project participants based on desire to learn a new method of cooking, enthusiasm for reducing use of charcoal cooking fuel, and willingness to attend meetings. The Women Engineers collected data on the use of charcoal before and during the project, and will follow up after a year to assess overall charcoal use and savings. They receive a wage for their work interviewing and selecting the participants, training, and holding support sessions. KoZon Foundation assisted with project planning and data collection. Kyoto Twist estimates that the project will: reduce charcoal use by 30% (360 kilograms per family per year); save each family about US $80 annually; and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 3.2 tonnes per family per year. The project cost about US $4600 in 2009.

• March 2008: The Association of Handicapped Women of Mali (AMAFH) continues to arrange solar cooker training for its members in Bamako, with organizational support from the Association of Women Engineers (AFIMA) and financial assistance from Dutch KoZon Foundation. In 2006, AMAFH taught 60 deaf and hard-of-hearing women how to use a CooKit solar cooker during a 2-day training. In a follow-up visit months later, at a school for deaf children, the women cooked a delicious solar feast. Fifty women with leprosy were trained in early 2007. With the loss of nerve sensation caused by the disease, traditional open fire cooking can be dangerous for these women because they can unknowingly get burned. Another benefit is that the women have increased status in the community because they now know something that most don’t: how to cook food with the sun. They said that with the CooKit they can prepare special recipes for their husbands, prepare groundnuts for their children, and even sell solar-cooked meat in the market. One remarkable woman, Mariam Toure, has lost all but one finger. Yet, she already has plans to lead a training early this year for another group of women with the disease. AMAFH also led a 2-day solar cooking workshop for 20 mentally disabled women in late 2007, which was well received. Source: Wietske Jongbloed

See also

• July 2004: "Cooking in a piece of cardboard … you have to see it to believe it" - Wietske Jongbloed

• Spring 2004: Confection Artisanale de CooKits en Mali - Wietske Jongbloed

Contact

Association des Femmes Ingénieurs du Mali (AFIMA)
BP: 03 BP 72
Bamako 03
Mali

Tel/Fax : +223 220 32 90
Cell: +223 672 06 13

Email: saligakou@yahoo.fr