Ed's Letter

Father Pontiano (green shirt on right) near one of the newest Family Stoves

OUR MISSIONARY TRIP TO AFRICA

Dear Friends and Family

I will be going to Sumbawanga Tanzania with my son Patrick, his wife Susan, and my granddaughter Emma; we will be leaving this July 27 and returning August 12.

This has been on my bucket list ever since I met a missionary priest, Fr. Pontiano Chomba from this region in 2005. For detail information about our history and the need for efficient wood burning stoves see my website: www.pumicestove.com.  I have empathy for many of needs in the region, based on my correspondence with Fr. Pontiano over the years. The need for clean air and safe efficient wood burning stoves was the area I thought I could make a major impact and I developed the Marian Family stove and the Marian Industrial stove for this purpose.

Most of us have no problem with Household Air Pollution (HAP) and today very few people even smoke in the home. Can we relate to a woman wrestling with a smoky fire while hungry children are waiting to be feed in a smoked filled room? Just imagine children doing homework with lighting from a kerosene lamp in a home filled with soot and smoke left over from cooking dinner. Can we relate to a mother who sees her child fall into a fire on the floor while playing or a woman holding a sick child with asthma who has trouble breathing in these conditions?  It is a way of life we cannot comprehend fully unless we lived in this environment. As I reflect on these challenges I think of what we were taught by the story of the Good Samaritan, we have an obligation to help these people.

This trip is a blessing to me and would not be possible without my son Patrick his wife and daughter. I have many friends in Sumbawanga who support the Marian Stove Project  (MSP) and it will be great to meet them in person after all these years. We will be reviewing the excellent progress they have made so far and assessing the future needs. Importantly, we also pray that we will enhance our connections with these amazing people.

The Kizungu village project in Sumbawanga Tanzania is a major next phase of our efforts.  In the future, I plan to raise funds, with your help, to provide 388 homes in the Kizungu village with efficient and safe wood burning stoves. These stoves will provide 3,682 people with clean air while cooking with half the wood. We aim to make this village a beacon of renewable and healthy living for the rest of Tanzania.

Please keep me and the people of Sumbawanga in your thoughts and prayers this summer.

Yours in Christ,

Ed Keane