Hello to every one.
I am Dutch and have lived in Cagayan de Oro city in the Philippines for the past two years. I am married to a Philippina and we have 2 kids. Cagayan d Oro is in Mindanao. I am retired.
When I was in the Netherlands I was already interested in Solar cooking. When I came here I was very busy with my family. When we moved over to another house and I saw many families cooking on wood fire I start to search for solar cooking and water pasteurization and I found solar cooking org. I do now a lot of research in solar cooking org. to find answers and solutions about a lot of questions.
Now we are busy to organize an information day about sun-cookers and water pasteurization. We, means some people of my church. We try to have this information at the end of the March, 2007. I have now my first funnel cooker and I pasteurize water in PET bottles. We are with 3 people and we hope that we also can have an information-day in my neighborhood. In the forum I hope to find people who can help us in any way if we need.
I also hope that I can interest many people to use the heat of the sun for their cooking. The people here are very sceptical about what I tell them about using the heat of the sun. Who can tell me how to set up an information day for those people. What kind of cookers are the best for starters. The people here do not have money to buy any thing.
You see, all help is welcome at the moment.
Thank you
Paul
Solar cooker progress
March 11, 2007
After I built my solar cooker (parabolic cooker) I cooked my rice. It takes about 2 hours and was very teasty. March 12 I cooked a whole chicken in 5 hours. But the Chicken came ouf the freezer and it took already a long time before it was defrosted
I did build my parabolic cooker from a carton box (for free) Alu. folie (20 Philippines peso) and some schotch tape (5 peso). All together 25 peso (US$ 0,51). My coming information day will be hold on april 5 and 6 2007. Many people here are already very interested about solar cooking. I am busy now to make the FUNNEL cooker and I will make 1 or 2 box cookers. Just to let the people see de differends between the SC. Next time I will glue the alu. folie on the carton. In the bottom from the solar cooker I put some black carton. I painted a cookingpan black en put it in the solar cooker (after it was dried). I put a glas lid on the pan. I covered the whole parabolic cooker with a plastic (for free) I am looking very forward to the informationday and if some one has a good idea, just let me know.
March 16 2007
Already 3 days too cloudy to test my Solar Cookers. We hope for sun in the weekend so we can test again with more people involved. We hope for sun during our information day in april. Thank to all who gave me tips and answers for my informationday.
March 23 2007
Today I put some meat outside in my solar cooker. When I 2 hours later looked in the Cooker there was no meat anymore. Looking around I found back my things, but no meat in there anymore. That dog always watch me when I go outside to put the cooker in the sun. I will find a way to be smarter than that dog. Still a lot of cloudy days at the moment. But sometimes we can use the Solar cooker.
The preparation about the information day goes on schedule. We hope, that day, the sun will visit us the whole day.
March 24 2008
After one year I am back to continue where I stopped last year. I am sure it will be a better year. More people are interested and a team has started solar cooking. Today I cooked only vegetables. A very hot day and no problem at all. As last year we have a workshop in April and I wish I could have some solar cookit as used in Somalia or Kenya. Any one an idea how to get those cookits? Please let me know.
- You can order CooKits here. Tom Sponheim 23:22, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
April 12, 2008
At the moment there are a few people starting to use a Solar cooker. I go visit them almost every day and talk and evaluate. I am very happy now to see people getting more and more interested. People of my "team" cooked rice, chicken adobo, banana's, eggs, sweet potato's with different results. But they all are interested to know more. So it give me a good feeling. At last we can also spread here Solar cooking step by step.
May 4, 2008
At last there is progression about spreading Solar Cooking here. I make some Parvati Solar Cookers. I buy some small cooking pots, painted them black as instructed and went to my friends with all those things. I used the trainers manual for to instruct them about Solar Cooking.
I visit them almost every day and they were all amazing about it. All those people do have friends around them and I see how more and more people getting interested and want to know more. The next step is now to have some workshops. I am busy to prepare and with the testimonies from my friends I think we are on our way.
Why do I use the [[Parvati Cooker[[? I make a Cookit, but it did not working very well. I don't know why not.(maybe some one can answer that question) So I make the Parvati Cooker what works very good. But it is more difficult to make one. It cost more time and is more expensive.
By one of my friends we make a Shielded fire stove from cement. He is still testing it, but the results are until now very good. More people (using firewood) around him want to know more about it.
I try to find some donors who will donate materials and other things I need. I know now the way is long, but looking to the results at the moment I am very optimistic.
Stay healthy and wish you all lots of Solar Cooking days
May 14 2008
What a great feeling to see my friends using the different of Solar cookers with good results. My friends are living in very poor neighborhoods. Most of the people around them getting more and more interested about Solar Cooking. Next month, after my friends have more knowledge, we will have some demonstration days and workshops. One of the introduction days will be held at the church area the first week of June. That day there will be an open house at the renovated church. Our team will be there with their solar cookers and we will prepare snacks. We are trying to find Donors who will offer something for this open house.
One of our team members has make a Shielded Fire Stove from soil and cement it work very well and it save him time and firewood. He make another one, transportable, and with the same results. as the bigger one.
Another team member will start a business, produce and selling Solar cookers. This coming Saturday we have a meeting about how to start that kind of business. Any helpful tips are welcome. We try to find the big cardboard 120X90 cm for making the Cookit.
I make the Cookit in 3 parts and then I taped it together. Now it is working Very Good. The problem at this moment is the daily dose sun. But it will change I am sure.
All together the project is going on and I am sure at the end of the year 100 or more families will us a Solar Cooker.
Please if there is something you think it can help me, please let me know.
wish you all a sunny day
Paul
June 4 2008
The Parvati Solar Cooker
Fifteen solarcookers and 3 stoves are in use here now in this neighborhood. all the solar cookers are Parvati Solar Cookers. More people getting interested and coming Saturday June 7 2008 we have an open house in our church (The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints} and an information and demonstration Solar Cooking. We make a transportable stove from cement and we will present that too during the Open Day. It save 60% of firewood, do not produce smoke once it is burning and reduce the cooking time wit 50% as the tester told me. He has not to buy firewood anymore. He just go to the trees and pick up some sticks from the ground and he use that. My friend and I are planning now to go to schools and try to have workshops about Solar cookers. We will ask if during those workshops students will make Solar Cookers for the poor people in their neighborhood. One school already has picked up the idea and they will make Solar Cookers, but for their own students, because the are all from poor families.
I also make from the Heaven's Flame Cooker, only the 4 reflectors. I glued the 4 reflectors together and make just a bottom, not a box. I test it now and it work the same as the Parvati Cooker and it is much easier to make. I make each reflector with a base of 32 cm and with the top of 74 cm and the angle is 67 degrees. I glued silversheet paper inside. The temperature goes in 2 hours up to 250 Fahrenheit. Can some one tell me what is the different between the round and the square Solar Cooker?
Next week I will continue en post some of the open day, and I will post some pictures about it.
Contact
Response
Paul, Promoting solar cooking has many links to informative documents, including http://solarcooking.org/TrainersManual.pdf and http://solarcooking.org/FieldGuide.pdf. These might help you design your information day. Best regards, Beth Ogilvie 00:00, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
June 13 2008
Open House.....Kauswagan Mormon Church Saturday June 7 2008.
we had an Open House to let people see our renovated Chapel. The renovation took 7 months, but we have back now a very nice church. During the Open House we had a demonstration and information about Solar Cooking. My Solar Cooking team had set up 5 Solar Cookers ( 1 Cookit, 2 Parvati and a kind of Heaven"s Flame) and 1 stove based on the "Shielded Fire Stove" The set up time was 11Am and the open house started at 3PM. It was not a real good Solar Cooking day. Many clouds and windy. In the Cookit we cooked hotdogs but we did that around 3PM 2 small hotdogs on a stick and all together in a cellophane bag. In the other cookers we cooked rice and Humba (meat with spices). We used black cookingpots in a cellophane. We did not use the stove, but there was information about it. And one of the team members who is using daily the stove explained the working.
To be sure the food was cooked even with not so much sun we opened the cookingpots at 4PM to let the visitors see and taste the food. The hotdogs cooked in the cellophane was for the younger children and was eaten in no time. The rice was cooked and the meat was tender. Amazing, unbelievable, I can't believe it,tender and tasty were often spoken words when people saw and taste the results from our Solar Cooking demonstration.
Many visitors want to know more and asked for demonstration in their neighborhood and even in their own garden. We are very happy to know that so many people saw the results about Solar Cooking. I see already in my neighborhood some solarcookers in use and we have the coming weeks demonstrations in other neighborhoods. I ask now the people to bring the food, because in the open house I payed all the expensives by myself. I am sure in this neighborhood Solar Cooking will be spread and then st will go slowly trough this city and country. But i has started and it will not stop anymore. The teamlid who use the stove has already some orders to make one. He has no job and now he make 1 stove a day for sale. I buy cement and the other materials for him to start his business. I am very happy for him and his family.
My conclusion: The open House was successful and positive. Solar Cooking has started and more will follow.
I have experience that the Cookit not real can be used in the Philippines. (some one knows the reason?) The Parvati is better, but difficult to make. The best, my own experience, is the Heaven's Flame cooker, but only the 4 reflectors and without oven. The temperature goes very fast up and is much easier to make Pictures later.
Hope you enjoy the story...
Have a nice day...
Paul van den Hurk