April 30, 2007

Dear Friends, 
 
Here is a letter from my friend, Ken Goyer about our works in Gulu, Uganda and some other villages, too. Just thought you'd like to know. 
 
Peter 
 
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Dear Friends,

I am pleased to say that I have regained my health and I am ready to return to Uganda.  (Ticket for May 4th.)  Also, Ben from Florida will be joining me in Gulu shortly after I arrive to help us build stoves and do other tasks. 

I am very happy to report that Martin is recovering very well from his accident and I understand that Moses is doing well too.

The O.K. news is that our dear friend and compatriot, founder of the Three Way Stove Project, Rotarian Wilfred Pimentel has had a small heart attack after returning from his latest trip to Rwanda.  I visited with him last week at his home in Fresno and he is recovering quickly, although his wife Marie would rather he not travel too much in the future.

Our first four volunteers have returned safely from Uganda.  Hugh and Ronda encountered the usual frustrations of a new project but even so they managed to do good work.  Pete went for a short time to do administrative work.  (We are now officially incorporated in Uganda thanks to the struggles of all of the volunteers).  Damon's report on his BIG stove experiment can be seen at  http://www.bioenergylists.org/en/ogleuganda07.  Thanks to everyone for their hard work.

We have begun to make SixBricks Rocket stoves in IDP camps in Gulu as well as stoves for the Rotary Adopt-A-Village program in South Uganda.  Each family in the first village (of Mundo) now has a stove.

Dan Wolf, founder of the International Lifeline Fund, reports that Mathew has now made 25,000 stoves in IDP camps in Lira.  VJ has now completed 5,000 stoves in El Fasher, Darfur.  He has built stoves for every family in one IDP camp and is starting in three more camps.  Meanwhile, Dan is plowing new ground in South Darfur, and in Ethiopia.

AidAfrica has purchased a Toyota van, and soon we will have another Toyota van and Mazda truck arriving from Japan to help us with our projects in Gulu.  The truck will be used for the stove project and the vans will be used to provide transportation for volunteers and to transport babies and other ill people from the camps to receive medical attention. 
 
1000 children under five years old die every week in Northern Uganda, mostly from MAD (malaria, anemia, diarrhea).
 
We hope to alleviate some of this suffering.

Thanks to everyone who has made our work possible.  It looks to be another exciting year.  Thanks to my brother Warren for forwarding my emails.

I hope to see some of you in Uganda.

Best wishes,

Ken