International Project Update: Pastor Ogbatabo’s Cookstove Training in NigeriaPastor Ogbatabo is a pseudonym for one of our SIFAT graduates and trainers in Nigeria. Because of his work in a violent area, we want to protect his identity for his safety. Pastor Ogbatabo submitted a proposal to SIFAT, which was approved as a SIFAT international project.  Pastor Ogbatabo and participants from the fuel efficient cookstove training that took place in Nigeria during September 2013. Pastor Ogbatabo, one of SIFAT’s International Practicum graduates, is currently holding trainings in Nigeria to educate community leaders on the importance of fuel efficient cookstoves and water purification. Pastor Ogbatabo will be holding six trainings during the next year to train about 360 people in making fuel-efficient cookstoves. These stoves not only help the environment by using less firewood, but also improve air quality in the kitchen and help girls go to school—the girls are usually given the task of gathering firewood, often spending most of the day walking to collect wood and keep the fire going. Training – Field Study:Our May Field Study is currently being held on SIFAT’s campus May 12-25. Sarah Murphree, SIFAT co-founder Sarah Corson’s great-niece, is a participant this year. She will be blogging about her experience and giving readers a glimpse of what types of appropriate technologies and community development topics are being presented, as well as a look into who some of the participants are. A 2012 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Sarah recently directed and produced two short films, one taking first place in the 2013 Nashville Film Festival. She is currently working on her third film, a documentary about Camp Koinonia. We had the pleasure to spend some time with Dr. Larry Winiarski, inventor of the rocket stove. Larry, a man of few words, is brilliant beyond belief. He dedicated numerous hours, months and years to come up with a solution to build better stoves in impoverished countries. After many years of hard work, he found a solution. He came up with a model allowing smoke to blow away from the stoves, so people aren’t forced to inhale dangerous fumes.
Training – Field Study: A Night in the SlumsOur May Field Study is currently being held on SIFAT’s campus May 12-25. Sarah Murphree, SIFAT co-founder Sarah Corson’s great-niece, is a participant this year. She will be blogging about her experience and giving readers a glimpse of what types of appropriate technologies and community development topics are being presented, as well as a look into who some of the participants are. A 2012 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Sarah recently directed and produced two short films, one taking first place in the 2013 Nashville Film Festival. She is currently working on her third film, a documentary about Camp Koinonia.
Tonight was a night I shall never forget. It was my first time to experience the slums at SIFAT. The Slum Experience is a program offered at SIFAT where high school students, adult leaders and college-aged staff experience life in the slums. During global training, we get a taste of this. Tonight was that night. Addison Shock, Learn & Serve director, divided us into families and led us down the wooded path to the slums where we would stay for three hours. We had no knowledge of where we were going or what to expect. This is how the majority of people enter the slums. People don’t choose to live here. Often times, they come across the slums in search of a place of safety. People never expect to stay here long, but with little knowledge of what else is out there and where to go, sometimes the slums seems like a diamond in the ruff.
 SIFAT’s Urban Slum simulates what life may be like for an estimated one billion people in the world. Training – Field Study: Green PastaOur May Field Study is currently being held on SIFAT’s campus May 12-25. Sarah Murphree, SIFAT co-founder Sarah Corson’s great-niece, is a participant this year. She will be blogging about her experience and giving readers a glimpse of what types of appropriate technologies and community development topics are being presented, as well as a look into who some of the participants are. A 2012 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Sarah recently directed and produced two short films, one taking first place in the 2013 Nashville Film Festival. She is currently working on her third film, a documentary about Camp Koinonia. Wednesday, Dave and Therese showed us how to make green pasta. Green pasta is a simple recipe anyone can make to incorporate more greens into his or her diet. After making green powder, you combine the powder into pasta dough. We kneaded green powder into our dough until it was nice and thick. We then cut it into thin strands in preparation for dinner. It was a lot of fun to make green pasta, but the more exciting part was the anticipation of the evening. We could not wait to try the green pasta we made ourselves!
 We made pasta using the green leaf powder. |
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