About Us
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How We're Making Solar Ovens
The industry began with Joyce Liundi's decision to contract the work with Brother Yohannes Mango at the Benedictine Abbey in Ndanda. Brother Mango begins by ordering simple wooden boxes with glass lids from Shadrack's carpentry shop in Masasi. The boxes, made from cyprus wood, are painted or treated with cashew nut oil to repel insects and then insulated with kapok – collected from trees in the Masasi area. Next, the glass lids are fitted tightly to the boxes, and sealed with a gasket made from used tires or shoe leather, to keep the heat inside the ovens.
The metal shop at the Ndanda mission, supervised by Brother Mango, is the next stop on the solar oven production line. His artisans craft boxes of aluminum which are painted black and set within the wooden boxes. He then uses lithograph plates, obtained from news organizations and print shops, to add reflectors outside the box. The plates, made of aluminum, have to undergo thorough cleaning from the ink process used in printing. However, because the plates are previously used, they are relatively inexpensive to purchase. Reflectors direct the sunlight into the ovens, where the black interior attracts the light; the light becomes heat; and the heat cooks the food! The process is quite simple, but obtaining the materials is challenging.
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