HuffPost Greatest Person Of The Day: Greg Spencer Jr. To Give 5 Million Cook Stoves To Those In Need

Three billion people worldwide still use open fires fueled by coal, wood and charcoal to prepare their meals.

That inefficient and environmentally harmful form of cooking can drain a family physically and economically, according to a press release from The Paradigm Project, a low-profit organization dedicated to providing five million cook stoves to people in need.

In rural Kenya, women spend about five hours each day trekking more than 10 miles to collect 60-pound bundles of wood for cooking, the release says.

Preparing food over an open fire is equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes a day for anyone standing in the hut where the fire is made. An estimated 1.9 million women and children under five years old die annually from pneumonia contracted after daily exposure to cooking smoke, according to The Paradigm Project. Women in war-ravaged areas have been attacked, robbed, raped or killed while gathering wood for their families.

Greg Spencer Jr. is out to change all that. The Paradigm Project co-founder wants to bring fuel-efficient stoves to poor, rural communities around the world. The stoves can save time and money, while also reducing toxic emissions from wood fires by 40 to 60 percent. That results in 7.5 metric tons of carbon offsets, which can then be sold in European and American-based carbon markets.

Over time, the goal of the project is to create a self-sustaining carbon economy in which proceeds from carbon sales eliminate the need for continued outside funding and actually generate a profit.

Spencer Jr. said he also wants to change the way Americans view poor people around the globe. Too often, he said, Westerners are presented with a depiction of world poverty that paints the victims as helpless. To this end, he helped create the web series Stove Man, which follows Spencer Jr. and director Austin Mann as they explore what it's like to cook over an open fire, walk miles to find wood and live on less than $2 per day in northern Kenya.

"The people we met are not laying out in the gutter waiting for you to pick them up," Spencer Jr. said. "These women are working from sunup to sundown for their families to provide some income."

Though their daily lives can be brutal, Spencer Jr. said the Kenyans he worked with also displayed an irrepressible positive attitude.

"That's what people don't necessarily see, Spencer Jr. said. "There is joy. There is laughter in the midst of this harsh reality. It's making the best of what's in front of you and what you've been given."

Spencer Jr. doesn't get to stay in constant contact with the friends he made in Africa because their access to cellphones is limited. But when they do see each other, he said, the connection is immediately re-ignited.

"They get teared up and I get teared up," Spencer Jr. said. "The great thing is we pick up from where we left off."

WATCH the first episode of Stove Man here, and to learn more about The Paradigm Project click over to the website.

Comments

[Dahveed1]

01:25 AM on 07/09/2011

Hmmm.

Here's the American coming to tell you that you have been doing wrong all these years. Here's a free stove and some fuel now do it our way. See how much smarter we are than you?

While his hearts in the right place, I suspect that most of these stoves will not be used after the first couple of months. People cook with wood fires there because they want too, not because they needed an American to come and give them the right answer.

This is typical of Western aid in Africa. We westerners forcing our ways onto them and destroying their way of life.

[papapj]

09:45 PM on 07/07/2011

Man, that sister's got a beautiful smile....

[WilmaJune]

08:20 PM on 07/07/2011

Why would they make an open fire inside the hut?

[MJinCanada]

11:22 AM on 07/08/2011

People generally do cook indoors. When your ancestors lived in wattle and daub huts or caves, they built their cooking fires inside too, in the middle of the floor. In cold weather, it warms the house. In hot weather, it helps keep flies and sneaky dogs out of the food. In general, it means all the ingredients and tools (including a table) are close at hand.

In mountainous areas of Africa, it can get a little chilly at night.

[Bobby Dias]

06:51 PM on 07/07/2011

Considering that three years ago Huffington Post actually believed Obama's promise that he would have all the US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan back home by now, I do not believe Huffington Post about any promises by anybody in a Huffington Post article.

[MJinCanada]

11:23 AM on 07/08/2011

But you continue to post here because no one will sit next to you in the coffee shop anymore because you're always complaining.

[Lobo72]

11:45 AM on 07/08/2011

You don't see any progress and joy in this article? No, you're just what this world doesn't need, another bitter, right-wing curmudgeon.

[Dan Crabtree]

05:22 PM on 07/07/2011

And they will plug them in ...where.. or get gas cannisters..where....and of course lets not forget about the imaginary carbon factor..always a big to do in the european union,,

[ska397]

10:26 PM on 07/07/2011

I wondered about that too. I looked at the site, and apparently these stoves are kind of like compacted, super-efficient wood-burning ovens. So pretty much anything that can be lit on fire can be used as fuel in these. You just use a lot less of it at a time

[MJinCanada]

11:29 AM on 07/08/2011

It's a compact, efficient wood stove:
http://www.theparadigmproject.org/the-stove

[gedarnet]

07:45 AM on 07/07/2011

really good
http://www.gedarnet.com/vb/t53925.html

[daybranch]

07:41 AM on 07/07/2011

I definitely support this project but I find this article very insulting. It implies that the poor in other places, I suspect the USA , are "just lying ion the ditch waiting for someone to pick them up". This negative image resounds well with the conservative prejudices directly hurting our nation at this time. I have no idea whether the journalist came up with these words or not but repeating them is an insult to poor people overall. It appears there is a campaign that because third world nations are poorer than we are, and not whining about it but working to better themselves, the needs of our own poor is their own fault. IThe author of this article has added fire to the conservative lie which will destroy a lot more than the Paradigm project helps. Wake up. Do not support the agenda of the very rich by contionuing this concept that poor people here deserve to be poor.

[Lorem Ipsum]

12:41 AM on 07/07/2011

Two things are missing from this story:

Men. Where are the black men and what are they doing while the women and the two white heros are gathering wood?

The stoves. Brief glimpses of the stoves are shown in such close-up that you really have no idea of the tool that will relieve the women of the problems of smoke inhalation.

If the problems of smoke inhalation is such a serious problem, why are they all laughing?

As marketing goes, I'd give this the equivalent of a '50s Lifebuoy commercial.

[Stephanie T]

12:51 AM on 07/07/2011

In Kenya they the "black men' are moving their cows to forage, usually miles away from their village, then they are guarding the herd from predators and bringing them back at night.

[skantea]

12:57 AM on 07/07/2011

Like you said, it's marketing. Low profit? Genius. Make money AND look like a hero on your CV.

[avam2009]

06:36 AM on 07/08/2011

yes, couldn't agree more....I had a look at the "team" just now...and they are all business guys - not a development/environment specialist among them. It seems they came up with a marketing idea and then went from there, rather than from a deep understanding of the needs and wider issues about livelihoods in these communities.

http://www.theparadigmproject.org/team

I'm trying to reserve some judgement on this, although like the "play pumps" and the "million t-shirt" fiasco my initial opinion is highly sceptical.

(n.b - PLEASE any posters don't waste your time with a childish/generic "what do you do", as is so often the case whenever someone makes a critical comment about anything not agreed with by middle america...I work in aid/development (15+ years, PhD) and have every right to post a comment)

[JackHoffman]

03:14 AM on 07/07/2011

You're an AH.

[doublels]

02:00 PM on 07/08/2011

yes...and of extraordinary proportion!

[kendahke]

07:43 AM on 07/07/2011

nothing about this story would lead an intelligent person to the conclusion that their problems are a result of having too many babies. Therefore, the conclusion of your silly comment is that you have no world experience to speak of outside of your mom's basement. Loser.

[amd02148]

04:49 AM on 07/11/2011

Faved, fan #4 kendahke

[ewj1]

11:19 PM on 07/06/2011

I prefer the solar oven http://solarovens.org/ I help them in Haiti

[DAWK]

10:41 PM on 07/06/2011

LIVING IN AMERICA ON 900 A MONTH AS A SENIOR,I USE AN OLD TOASTER OVEN AS A SOLAR DEFROSTER. IT GOES UP TO 170 DEGREES,AND NO LONGER NEED A MICROWAVE,WHICH DESTROYS FOOD VALUE. SO GOING SOLAR CAN BE EVERYONE'S AGENDA,JUST THINK ABOUT ALL THE TINY DIFFERENCES YOU CAN MAKE TO ADD UP TO A BIG DIFFERENCE..

[BrassOnes]

11:00 PM on 07/06/2011

I recommend taking the CAPS LOCK OFF and people might read your blither about 'microwaves' trying to "steal all of your bodily fluids."

[ska397]

10:24 PM on 07/07/2011

And I recommend actually reading someone's post and maybe a refresher course on the proper use of quotation marks before you call someone else to task. If you'll read the above statement from beginning to end, you'll see they're talking about microwaves destroying food value. do you 'understand' the "difference" between 'food values' and "bodily fluids" because if you don't, I really, really don't want to know what you use YOUR 'microwave' for. Also, if you'd actually look into it, there have been a lot of studies done on this, and 'microwaves" actually aren't as good as solar defrosters or steamers at preserving the nutritional content of frozen 'foods'. "YOU KNOW?"

[LittleMs Random]

10:48 PM on 07/07/2011

Someone is awfully bitter and full of themselves. I suggest you learn to read and comprehend before you use up your snarky comments.

[BrassOnes]

10:36 PM on 07/06/2011

Using cleaner stoves, really? This solves Africa's problems?

Many African countries have birth rates that bury any western ones. In places like Malawi where the average women gives birth 10 times (less than half survive 2 years) stoves are not the solution. Remember the 60 Min Anderson Copper southern Africa story? The answer there was "plumpy nut" for infants and those starving. The also briefly mentioned that all the farms in the country cannot provide enough food for the population so the were looking for donations. Good to know 'LiveAid' in the 80's cured all this. (what are the estimates on 'aid' fraud? I believe the latest studies show 80% fraud/corruption waste)

Birth control is the ONLY sane answer. You can feed the starving, sure. But when the starving have 10 kids each it's untenable. A more rational approach is required. It's called birth control.

[walsenberg]

11:11 PM on 07/06/2011

It is not meant to solve all of Africa's problems. It is meant to help alleviate the health and environmental issues. Of course, birth control is needed throughout the world. Your reply sounds very bitter and for this one person to be trying to help on these issues, your negativity sounds as if you are whining. At least the guy is trying to help. What are you doing?

[BrassOnes]

11:18 PM on 07/06/2011

I'm trying to point out that we have given misguided aid for generations in Africa. It's NOT working. Many in Africa admit it's not solving the problems. If you like doing work that solves nothing have at it.

[GEEWIZ]

11:36 PM on 07/06/2011

supply birth control to help the hungry from producing even more babies

[Denverzoom]

12:07 AM on 07/07/2011

It true the birth rate is higher and in case of Malawi, the population has been growin' by about 2.8 % since 2006 and contraceptive prevalence (% of women ages 15-49) is about 41 in 2006 according to a World Bank report (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CONU.ZS). However, understanding the role of African woman in the family structure would probably help you understand the impact this "stoves" will have in everyday life of these people. Much love for LiveAid and Bob Geldof, but what this kind of market based solutions does is laying out a sustainable structure that could support a long lasting indigenous development. But to suggest population control through birth control because these people can't feed themselves is insane…I am not saying that they should not have to use birth control, there are actually American organizations like PSI, Oxfam America and many others who are supporting developing countries in family planning. By the way, congrats to Greg Spencer Jr.

[Robert SF]

09:53 PM on 07/06/2011

Yes, sending solar cookers to the developing world has been tried since the 60s. They never seem to catch on, however. Part of it is the usual story: white man arrives to tell dark people they've been doing it all wrong and this is how you're supposed to do it, okay? Dark people politely humor white man until he departs, after which the solar cookers are never used again. Then another white guy gets it in his head that if only those poor people had solar cookers...

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.6351583
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/a-path-to-cleaner-cooking-in-africa
http://stepscentre-thecrossing.blogspot.com/2011/02/solar-stoves-making-things-people.html

More and more people are starting to believe that the best thing you can do for poor people is to just give them hard, cold cash and let them spend it however they want. That's how Brazil lowered its poverty rate.

[Lobo72]

12:20 PM on 07/08/2011

This story is not about solar cookers. You're about the sixth commenter I've found today who didn't actually the article they he was commenting about. Anyway, solar cookers were tried and they take too much time and they don't brown the food very well. That's why this efficient wood stove makes more sense; by conserving the fuel while reducing pollutants.

[Holly Smoke]

09:00 PM on 07/06/2011

Keep up the good work,
thank you for the hope of humanity that you have given us...

[tonyg10]

08:52 PM on 07/06/2011

A couple of questions. What kind of fuel will these fuel effecient stoves use? Who will supply that fuel? How will it be stored and rationed out? How long before the leaders of these countries steal it and enrich themelves? The US has been supplying aid to these countries for years. Even private donations are sent to help. The aid in no matter what form is usually stolen by the government or their families. Recently read about a school struck by lightning killing some children. A simple lightning rod would have prevented this. The government really doesn't care.

[quiviran]

09:29 PM on 07/06/2011

Biomass. The same fuel they use now, just much less of it and much more efficiently.