The Rotary Club of Djibouti headed up this Community Sun Oven Project for the small rural community of Dorro. They enlisted the help of several other Rotary Clubs, the International Service Committee of the Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary & their own Rotary District 9020.
They contacted Poulsbo Rotary because we had previously worked together on a very successful water filter project with the Afar nomads in 2010 in the Djiboutian countryside and, they trusted us to come thru with monies to transport the Oven from the US to Djibouti.
Sun Ovens International was originated in 1986 by Tom Burns, a retired restaurateur from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was also very active with Rotary International and was developing the idea of helping to eliminate deforestation. Their large solar-powered cooking ovens are called Villager Sun Ovens. These community-sized ovens are designed for large-scale cooking situations. Hundreds of loaves of bread and over 1,000 meals per day can be baked, boiled, or steamed.
The Djiboutian Rotary Club developed this project as an expansion of a program they did with the Italian Army base several years ago, where they trained bakers to work in local bakeries. This Community Sun Oven is placed at a school in the small rural community of Dorro. The plan is for the bakers to feed the students and then, with time left over, they can bake other breads and cakes to sell in the community, allowing them to make a living.
This project was begun in 2019 and finally completed and placed at the school on February 25, 2022.
We all stuck it out thru the COVID pandemic, supply chain issues, political disturbances in and around Djibouti and are delighted to see it in action feeding hungry students and providing a vocation to local men and women. Poulsbo Rotary was instrumental, as well as patient. The sun oven is now making bread.
