Changes: Iridimi Refugee Camp

Revision as of 22:23, 9 September 2014

Last edited: 5 February 2014

The Iridimi Refugee Camp houses over 18,000 refugees that have fled the Darfur region of Sudan. It is fully equipped with 14,000 solar cookers. A solar cooker production workshop was completed in early 2006, and since then women have earned income assembling the cookers and conducting trainings.

In early 2005, solar cooking was introduced to Darfur refugees living in the Iridimi Refugee Camp in Chad by Dr. Derk Rijks of the KoZon Foundation. Jewish World Watch’s Solar Cooker Project adopted this endeavor in 2006 and has expanded it to provide solar cookers and training to three refugee camps so far. Replacement cookers are provided for the families, which are made up of 5-7 people per tent, often one woman as the head of household, with up to three of her own children and three orphans.

The area is devoid of vegetation; there is abundant sun and very little rainfall—between 3” and 5” (7.5 - 12.5 cm) yearly. The main food currently distributed in Iridimi is maize meal, a food the refugees commonly eat. It is sometimes accompanied by a maize-soya-meal mixture, if available. The pulse plants most frequently distributed are yellow and red lentils, white and red beans, and sometimes pigeon peas.

Iridimi refugee camp from air — An aerial view of the camp

These require cooking for about three hours, depending on the clarity of the sky. The heat from solar cookers is slow and gentle, so while the food stays longer in the pot, it doesn’t stick to the walls or need to be regularly stirred, which is an advantage over the potential to burn food with fire. Women can do other things while the food is cooking, without worrying about stirring. Additionally, there isn’t the lingering smell of smoke as there is with a fire—like women everywhere, these refugee women are conscious about their appearance, even in these very difficult conditions. Solar cookers are also able to be used to pasteurize drinking water, reducing incidence of water-borne diseases especially in children.

The Solar Cooker Project’s partners include Solar Cookers International, which provides technical assistance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR,) which manages the camps and coordinates NGO activities, and Tchad Solaire ("Solar Chad"), the NGO that runs the project on the ground in Chad.

Organizations providing financial support for this project have included: Netherlands Refugee Foundation, Jewish World Watch, as the North American Coordinator of the Project, the Darfur Assistance Project, the Dora Levit Family Fund, and the Hesed Fund. Logistical and communications support from the UNHCR and CARE is invaluable in continuing project operations.

Jewish World Watch is handling donations for this project and your support is needed!

News and recent developments

thumb|400px|TAHA CHAMCHIHA Solar Cooking in the Sahel

July 2011: A Goedhart Film production, TAHA CHAMCHIHA Solar Cooking in the Sahel, documents daily life for the Sudanese refugees living in camps in bordering Chad. Tchad Solaire has trained over 12,000 women in the use of simple solar panel cookers. These CooKits have provided the women additional free time normally spent searching for scarce firewood. Within each camp there is a workshop center where cookers are made for distribution to the other residents. Though the cookers are somewhat fragile, the women have appreciated being involved with the process of making the simple CooKits. The film also shows how the companion Guffah heat-retention cooker baskets are being assembled to use with the panel cookers to keep the food piping hot for dinner served in the early evening.

January 2010: Photos and discussion of evaluation visit to the Iridimi Refugee Camp - Karyn Ellis

The Benefits of Solar Cooking

Solar cooking helps reduce the need for frequent firewood collection outside the relative safety of the camp, reducing the risk of violence towards women and girls.
Two solar cookers can save one ton of wood each year.
There is no need to tend a fire so women are free to do other tasks while food is cooking.
The production of the solar cookers provides income-generating opportunities for female refugees.
Solar cooking, as part of the Integrated Cooking Method, reduces the amount of wood necessary for cooking, helping to alleviate tensions between the refugees and locals, whose already slim wood supply was suddenly impacted by thousands of refugees.

What You Can Do

Help provide more refugee camps with solar cookers by raising awareness and raising funds. Make a donation! Just $30 supports one family by providing two solar cookers, training and two pot holders. See more information at: Help the Women of Darfur

Iridimi Refugee Camp Building CooKits 2006 — Refugee women earn income by constructing cookers and training other refugees.

CooKit wind protection Iridimi 2007 — Tying down a CooKit solar panel cooker so that it can withstand the winds at Iridimi

Iridimi cookers 2007 — When the training of all women in Iridimi camp was finished (May 2007) and all of them possessed 2 CooKits, they proposed to celebrate this at an Id el Tachashumshir (the staff counted 4200 CooKits in the sun)

Resources

Articles in the Media

February 2014: Surviving Genocide in Sudan and Congo - Tikkun Daily

Audio and video

2010:

Spring 2008: The Women of Iridimi - A film by Barbara Grover

Solar_cooker_project_-_Iridimi_refugee_camp,_Chad_(Oct_2007)

November 2007 YouTube video showing the construction and use of CooKit solar cookers at the Iridimi Refugee Camp

External Links

February 2009: Simple Tool That Saves Women's Lives - Parade Magazine
June 2008: Radio Netherlands broadcasts a report on the work of Marie-Rose Neloum working with refugees in Chad (Text, Audio)
May 2008: Rays of hope for Darfur refugees - Guardian Weekly (UK)
March 2008: Darfur project cooks up first for Bronfman prize - Jewish Journal
October 2007: Evaluation report on the Iridimi Refugee Camp project
Solar Cookers International's page on the Iridimi Refugee Camp
January 2008: Genocide and Cooking - Los Angeles Times
December 2006: Frequently-asked questions about SCI/KoZon Chad project
High-resolution satellite photo of the Iridimi Refugee Camp
Donate online to support this project

Blogs

Solar Cooking & Water Treatment in Africa-Karyn Ellis

Contact

See Jewish World Watch.Jewish World Watch

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{GoogleTranslateLinks}}
-== About the Solar Cooker Project ==
-Jewish World Watch (JWW) works to fulfill the post-Holocaust oath of “Never Again” to combat genocide and other dire violations of human rights internationally – thecurrent genocide in Darfur being one of the most pressing issues. JWW mobilizes the co
-mmunity through three modes of action: education, advocacy, and refugee relief. The Solar Cooker Project is part of JWW’s refugee relief arm—immediate support to the people affected by such atrocities, in this case women and girls.
+{{Updated|2|5|14}}
+[[Image:KoZon_Iridimi_May_2007_1.jpg|right|350px]]
+The '''Iridimi Refugee Camp''' houses over 18,000 refugees that have fled the Darfur region of [[Sudan]]. It is fully equipped with 14,000 solar cookers. A solar cooker production workshop was completed in early 2006, and since then women have earned income assembling the cookers and conducting trainings.
+In early 2005, solar cooking was introduced to Darfur refugees living in the Iridimi Refugee Camp in Chad by Dr. [[Derk Rijks]] of the [[KoZon Foundation]]. [[Jewish World Watch]]’s Solar Cooker Project adopted this endeavor in 2006 and has expanded it to provide solar cookers and training to three [[refugee camps]] so far. Replacement cookers are provided for the families, which are made up of 5-7 people per tent, often one woman as the head of household, with up to three of her own children and three orphans.
+The area is devoid of vegetation; there is abundant sun and very little rainfall—between 3” and 5” (7.5 - 12.5 cm) yearly. The main food currently distributed in Iridimi is [[maize meal]], a food the refugees commonly eat. It is sometimes accompanied by a maize-soya-meal mixture, if available. The pulse plants most frequently distributed are yellow and red lentils, white and red beans, and sometimes pigeon peas.[[Image:Iridimi_refugee_camp_from_air.jpg‎|thumb|left|200px|An aerial view of the camp]]
-JWW’s Solar Cooker Project (SCP) is committed to protecting refugee women and girls from rape and other egregious forms of violence. Women and girls who have fled the genocide in Darfur, Sudan are particularly vulnerable while performing the critical task of collecting firewood for cooking. The SCP’s mission is to reduce the frequency of these heinous crimes by providing women from refugee camps with an alternative cooking option: the solar cooker. Solar cookers, which don't require firewood, enable women to remain within the relative safety of the camp.
+These require cooking for about three hours, depending on the clarity of the sky. The heat from solar cookers is slow and gentle, so while the food stays longer in the pot, it doesn’t stick to the walls or need to be regularly stirred, which is an advantage over the potential to burn food with fire. Women can do other things while the food is cooking, without worrying about stirring. Additionally, there isn’t the lingering smell of smoke as there is with a fire—like women everywhere, these refugee women are conscious about their appearance, even in these very difficult conditions. Solar cookers are also able to be used to pasteurize drinking water, reducing incidence of water-borne diseases especially in children.
-The vision of the JWW Solar Cooker Project is to create measurable impacts in the refugee camps that are in line with the United Nations Millennium Goals developed in 2000. Specifically:
+The Solar Cooker Project’s partners include [[Solar Cookers International]], which provides technical assistance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR,) which manages the camps and coordinates NGO activities, and [[Tchad Solaire]] ("Solar Chad"), the NGO that runs the project on the ground in Chad.
+Organizations providing financial support for this project have included: [[Netherlands Refugee Foundation]], Jewish World Watch, as the North American Coordinator of the Project, the [[Darfur Assistance Project]], the Dora Levit Family Fund, and the Hesed Fund. Logistical and communications support from the UNHCR and CARE is invaluable in continuing project operations.
-*Diminish the vulnerability of women to sexual violence and provide them with greater personal security.
-*Create an environmentally sustainable solution by using the renewable energy of  the sun and drastically reducing the reliance on firewood.
-*Contribute to a global partnership for development by training and employing refugees in the assembly and repair of solar cookers, which provides them with decent work.
+Jewish World Watch is handling donations for this project and [http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/donate/solarcookerproject.html your support is needed]!
-== Specifics About the Iridimi Refugee Camp ==
-The Iridimi refugee camp houses 18,846 refugees that fled the Darfur region of Sudan. It is fully equipped with 14,000 solar cookers, with about 8,000 that have been replaced. As of the end of 2007, 5,500 women and girls in the Iridimi camp have been trained to use solar cookers. A solar cooker production workshop was completed in early 2006, and since then women have earned income assembling the cookers and conducting trainings.
+==News and recent developments==
-In early 2005, solar cooking was introduced to Darfur refugees living in the Iridimi Refugee Camp in Chad by Dr. Derk Rijks of the KoZon Foundation. Jewish World Watch’s Solar Cooker Project adopted this endeavor in 2006 and has expanded it to provide solar cookers and training to three refugee camps so far.
+[[Video:TAHA CHAMCHIHA Solar Cooking in the Sahel|thumb|400px|TAHA CHAMCHIHA Solar Cooking in the Sahel]]
+*'''July 2011:''' A Goedhart Film production, TAHA CHAMCHIHA Solar Cooking in the Sahel, documents daily life for the Sudanese refugees living in camps in bordering [[Chad]]. [[Tchad Solaire]] has trained over 12,000 women in the use of simple [[solar panel cooker]]s. These [[CooKits]] have provided the women additional free time normally spent searching for scarce [[firewood]]. Within each camp there is a workshop center where cookers are made for distribution to the other residents. Though the cookers are somewhat fragile, the women have appreciated being involved with the process of making the simple CooKits. The film also shows how the companion ''Guffah'' [[heat-retention cooker]] baskets are being assembled to use with the panel cookers to keep the food piping hot for dinner served in the early evening.
+*'''January 2010:''' [http://solarmoxie.blogspot.com/2009/10/chad-solar-cooking-project-evaluation.html Photos and discussion of evaluation visit to the Iridimi Refugee Camp] - ''[[Karyn Ellis]]''
-Replacement cookers are provided for the families, which are made up of 5-7 people per tent, often one woman as the head of household, with up to three of her own children and three orphans.
-The area is devoid of vegetation; there is abundant sun and very little rainfall—between 3” and 5” (7.5 - 12.5 cm) yearly. The main food currently distributed in Iridimi is maize meal, a food the refugees commonly eat. It is sometimes accompanied by a maize-soya-meal mixture, if available. The pulse plants most frequently distributed are yellow and red lentils, white and red beans, and sometimes pigeon peas.
-It requires cooking for about three hours, depending on the clarity of the sky. The heat from solar cookers is slow and gentle, so while the food stays longer in the pot, it doesn’t stick to the walls or need to be regularly stirred, which is an advantage over the potential to burn food with fire. Women can do other things while the food is cooking, without worrying about stirring. Additionally, there isn’t the lingering smell of smoke as there is with a fire—like women everywhere, these refugee women are conscious about their appearance, even in these very difficult conditions. Solar cookers are also able to be used to pasteurize drinking water, reducing incidence of water-borne diseases especially in children.
-The SCP’s partners include Solar Cookers International, which provides technical assistance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which manages the camps and coordinates NGO activities, and Tchad Solaire (“Chad Sun”), the NGO that runs the SCP on the ground in Chad.
-Organizations providing financial support for this project have included: Netherlands Refugee Foundation, Jewish World Watch, as the North American Coordinator of the Project, the Darfur Assistance Project, the Dora Levit Family Fund, and the Hesed Fund. Logistical and communications support from the UNHCR and CARE is invaluable in continuing project operations.
-Jewish World Watch is handling donations for this project and your support is needed!
 == The Benefits of Solar Cooking ==
+* Solar cooking helps reduce the need for frequent firewood collection outside the relative safety of the camp, reducing the risk of violence towards women and girls.
+* Two solar cookers can save one ton of wood each year.
-*Solar cooking helps reduce the need for frequent firewood collection outside the relative safety of the camp, reducing the risk of violence towards women and girls.
+* There is no need to tend a fire so women are free to do other tasks while food is cooking.
-*Two solar cookers can save one ton of wood each year.
+* The production of the solar cookers provides income-generating opportunities for female refugees.
-*There is no need to tend a fire so women are free to do other tasks while food is cooking.
+*Solar cooking, as part of the [[Integrated Cooking Method]], reduces the amount of wood necessary for cooking, helping to alleviate tensions between the refugees and locals, whose already slim wood supply was suddenly impacted by thousands of refugees.
-*The production of the solar cookers provides income-generating opportunities for female refugees.
-*
 == What You Can Do ==
+Help provide more refugee camps with solar cookers by raising awareness and raising funds. [http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/donate/solarcookerproject.html Make a donation]! Just $30 supports one family by providing two solar cookers, training and two pot holders. See more information at: [[Media:JWW_FactSheet_Jan10_v5_lr.pdf|Help the Women of Darfur]]
+[[Image:Iridimi_Refugee_Camp_Building_CooKits_2006.jpg|none|thumb|450px|Refugee women earn income by constructing cookers and training other refugees.]]
-Help provide more refugee camps with solar cookers by raising AWARENESS and raising FUNDS.
+[[Image:CooKit_wind_protection_Iridimi_2007.jpg|thumb|none|450px|Tying down a [[CooKit]] solar panel cooker so that it can withstand the winds at Iridimi]]
-Make a DONATION—just $30 supports one family by providing two solar cookers, training and two pot h
+[[Image:Iridimi_cookers_2007.jpg|thumb|none|600px|When the training of all women in Iridimi camp was finished (May 2007) and all of them possessed 2 [[CooKit]]s, they proposed to celebrate this at an Id el Tachashumshir (the staff counted 4200 CooKits in the sun)]]{{clr}}
-olders.
+==Resources==
+===Articles in the Media===
+*'''February 2014:''' [http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2014/02/03/photo-gallery-surviving-genocide-in-sudan-and-congo/?utm_content=bufferc1b35&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Surviving Genocide in Sudan and Congo] - ''Tikkun Daily''
-== Contact ==
+===Audio and video===
+*'''2010:'''[[File:Women of Iridimi|none|400 px]]
+*'''Spring 2008:''' [http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/refugeerelief/womenofiridimi.html The Women of Iridimi] - ''A film by Barbara Grover''
-Jewish World Watch
-Ventura Blvd. Suite 206
+{|
-Encino, CA 91316
+|[[File:Solar cooker project - Iridimi refugee camp, Chad (Oct 2007)|425px]]
+|'''November 2007''' YouTube video showing the construction and use of [[CooKit]] solar cookers at the Iridimi Refugee Camp
+|}
-www.JewishWorldWatch.org
--501-1836
-== News and Recent Developments ==
-<font color="red">NEW:</font> [[:File:Iridimi Evaluation Report October 2007 compressed.pdf|October 2007 evaluation report on the Iridimi Refugee Camp project]] shows that trips outside the camp to gather firewood were reduced by 86%
-<br /> [[:File:KoZon Iridimi May 2007 1.jpg]]
 ==See also==
+*[http://star-tides.net/node/2606 Solar Cooker Project: Best Practices Manual]
+*'''March 2009:''' [[Media:Iridimi_-_Fuel_and_Firewood_Conference_presentation_2009.pdf|Slideshow presented at the Fuel and Firewood Conference]]
-*
+*'''October 2007:''' [[Media:Iridimi_Evaluation_Report_October_2007_compressed.pdf|Evaluation report on the Iridimi Refugee Camp project]] shows that trips outside the camp to gather firewood were reduced by 86%.
+*'''Spring 2007:''' [[Media:Iridimi_photographs_June_2007.pdf|A collection of photographs from the Iridimi Refugee Camp]]
 *[[Jewish World Watch]]
 *[[KoZon Foundation]]
 *[[Touloum Refugee Camp]]
+*[[Kounoungou Refugee Camp]]
+*[[Mile Refugee Camp]]
+*[[Gaga Refugee Camp]]
+*[[Farchana Refugee Camp]]
+*[[Oure Cassoni Refugee Camp]]
 *[[Refugee camps]]
+*[http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/refugeerelief/pdfs/JWW_FactSheet_Mar09_lr.pdf%7CJewish World Watch Factsheet]
-*
 *'''[[Marie-Rose Neloum]]'''
+*'''July 2006:''' [[Media:TchadIridimi Derk GRA 17.06.06.pdf|Slide show showing solar cooking project in camp]]
-*'''July 2006:'''
 * [[Cooking for large groups]]
-==External links==
+== External Links ==
 *'''February 2009:''' [http://www.parade.com/health/2009/03/solar-cooker-project.html Simple Tool That Saves Women's Lives] - ''Parade Magazine''
-*'''June 2008:''' Radio Netherlands broadcasts a report on the work of [[Marie-Rose Neloum]] working with refugees in Chad ([http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/africa/080619-solar-oven Text], [http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/africa/080619-solar-oven Audio])
+*'''June 2008: ''' Radio Netherlands broadcasts a report on the work of [[Marie-Rose Neloum]] working with refugees in Chad ([http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/africa/080619-solar-oven Text], [http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/africa/080619-solar-oven Audio])
 *'''May 2008:''' [http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=577&catID=7 Rays of hope for Darfur refugees] - ''Guardian Weekly (UK)''
 *'''March 2008:''' [http://jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=19078 Darfur project cooks up first for Bronfman prize] - ''Jewish Journal''
 *'''October 2007:''' [http://solarcooking.org/regional/Chad/Iridimi_Evaluation_Report_October_2007.pdf Evaluation report on the Iridimi Refugee Camp project]
-*[http://solarcookers.org/about/programs/iridimi.html Solar Cookers International's page on the Iridimi Refugee Camp]
+*[http://solarcookers.org/programs/iridimi.html Solar Cookers International's page on the Iridimi Refugee Camp]
 *'''January 2008:''' [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:vckRVbjwincJ:www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-jww19dec19,0,2701906.story%3Fcoll%3Dla-promo-opinion+%22genocide+and+cooking%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Genocide and Cooking] - ''Los Angeles Times''
 *'''December 2006:''' [http://www.solarcookers.org/about/programs/chad_faq.pdf Frequently-asked questions about SCI/KoZon Chad project]
 *[http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan/images/satellite/photo01_highres.html High-resolution satellite photo of the Iridimi Refugee Camp]
 *[http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/donate/solarcookerproject.html Donate online to support this project]
-*'''Spring 2008:''' [http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/refugeerelief/womenofiridimi.html The Women of Iridimi] - ''A film by Barbara Grover''
+==Blogs==
+*[http://solarmoxie.blogspot.com/2009/10/chad-solar-cooking-project-evaluation.html Solar Cooking & Water Treatment in Africa]-''[[Karyn Ellis]]''
+== Contact ==
+{{See|Jewish World Watch}}
 [[Category:Chad]]
+[[Category:Refugee camps]]