< 1/2 >

In 2000 the Tanzanian organisation, AHEAD, (Adventures in Health, Education and Agricultural Development) began a pilot project to test the feasibility of using solar cookers to pasteurise water in rural areas.

Working in Meatu District in the north of the country, the AHEAD team trained health personnel to construct simple solar cookers, called 'CooKits' [see also Kenya solar cooker entry], and then use them to pasteurise water. The villagers were taught how to use 'WAPIs' - water pasteurisation indicators - that tell when the water has been heated enough to make it safe for drinking. WAPIs are small plastic capsules containing soya bean wax that melts at 65*C, the temperature at which bacteria and viruses are killed. The villagers were also taught how to store and transport water that they had pasteurised so that it wouldn't become contaminated again.

This project aims to continue the work of the pilot. By training more village health workers to train others, it will increase the number of people using CooKits to pasteurise water and so decrease the incidence of water borne diseases in children.