Our Work
The Challenge
Haitian families suffer toxic effects from the charcoal or wood that cooks their daily meals. Households, especially women and children, are afflicted by respiratory diseases. A large part of family income is spent on fuel. Hillsides are stripped and soil slides into the sea. Known alternatives are expensive or unavailable.
PPAF Activities
PPAF leads a Haitian and USA-based group to help mobilize families to use solar cookers and avoid charcoal. The group created Haiti's first university course on the subject. The Haitian colleagues conduct testing, demonstrations, and training sessions, they document their experiences and innovations, and they sell solar cookers.
Companies in the USA supply cookers for sale or for donation to orphanages. Some are produced locally. Sales are priced way below cost to encourage start-up entrepreneurship and to reach low-income families. Haitian colleagues hold sessions with families, schools, churches, and community groups, and they collect data in cellphone surveys. Institutions that focus on low-income children and on adolescent girls receive special attention.
The Impact
PPAF creates leverage and potential for broader adoption. Demonstrations are eye-openers for students and adults, who witness immediate results. This stimulates a desire to own solar cookers and to promote them locally. The team is building impact in and around their towns for affordable and clean energy, good health, environmental protection, climate action, and empowerment of women and girls, consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Seminars and Presentations
On the international side, PPAF hosts or participates in events at the UN and elsewhere, and is a member of Solar Cookers International and the Clean Cooking Alliance. This helps spread the word about the importance of the work and the possibilities for its adoption elsewhere.
Over the years PPAF has worked in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Madagascar, and at United Nations Headquarters and elsewhere, with dozens of organizations, businesses and government representatives. Please see the History section of the website for details.
