Christmas Appeal - Gas Stoves For Fa-Arau Village
Brian Downs from Taree shares his Heart to bring Healthcare and Clean Cooking to Faarau Village just south of Auki on the Island of Malaita Solomon Islands
My visits to Fa'arau village earlier in the year highlighted to me that something needs to be done to rid the village of airborne smoke. Fires are lit by all the village people to cook with inside their homes and the smoke has no immediate escape. Every person in the village is being affected by it and the woman and children are chopping down their limited forest and destroying their mangrove swamps for fire wood.
The health of the village people should be very good considering they are on a vegetable diet but sadly I witnessed how the woman and children mostly were showing visible signs of sickness related to long term exposure to the smoke. There was a whole range of problems ranging from sore red eyes, sore and inflamed throats, green discharge from children noses, constant coughing, organ pain, unusual lumps and growths, asthma and yes cancer.
We addressed the dangers to their health on my second visit making everybody aware that there are better and cleaner ways to cook meals with. I researched which system would be best for them and found that clean burning gas was the solution. They are happy to use gas though the main problem with the village is no employment, no incomes.
We can stop the smoke and improve the health of this village if you and I could help buy 40 gas burners and gas bottles for these impoverished people, please make a donation and make a difference to Fa’arau village