Synod funds solar electrified cooking system at school in Tanzania
The Northwest Intermountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has pledged to provide the funding for a new solar electrified cooking system at the Tumaini Lutheran Seminary, a secondary school in Malinyi, Tanzania, overseen by the Ulanga-Kilombero Diocese.
More than 250 students and staff are fed from this kitchen three times daily when school is in session, and the solar kitchen will make a difference in the health of the students.
The solar kitchen will eliminate the harmful emissions produced by the existing wood-burning kitchen, including carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. The solar kitchen contractor and engineer have been working on the installation and soon cooks at the school will be using the new kitchen, said Heidi Cryer, who works with the companion synod.
The total cost of the solar kitchen is $77,000, which includes the equipment and installation, and refurbishing the existing cooking space in the dining/assembly hall—an earlier project of the synod—and travel costs for a local manager.
"A nonprofit in Tanzania has purchased carbon credits, and this solar project received several thousand dollars," said Heidi.
About $12,000 has been committed to the project by NWIM Synod, congregations and individuals in the synod.
"We now have a donation to match donations up to $20,000 made from mid-September to mid-November," Heidi added. "We planned to pay the full amount over seven years, but we expect to have all the funds by early 2027 and pay it off early.
"It's an exciting project and timely as the government of Tanzania expects organizations that feed more than 100 people to install solar for cooking, so the government can curb the deforestation that results from cooking with wood," Heidi explained. "In addition, the health of the cooks and all members at Tumaini is harmed by the smoke of cooking with wood. There is also a great savings from using the readily available free resource of solar."
Twelve members of the NWIM Synod went to Tanzania in June. The next companion synod visit to Tanzania will be Oct. 26 to Nov. 11, 2027.
For information, visit nwimsynod.org/tanzania-companion-synod-ukd
