Our project has a strong gender component. Of course women play a crucial role in the kitchen environment. Women are central when making decisions, from breakfast/linch/supper preparation, serving the children, and ensuring everything is clean and food is always served on time.

Therefore here at Simoshi we make sure to continuously support them in their kitchen transitions as they move away from using traditional cooking practices. We are hand in hand training them on how to achieve the best results from their institutional improved cook stoves (IICS), how to rotate different saucepan capacities to avoid energy lost, how to store their firewood to achieve the best possible combustion, how to clean the ash and soot from the different compartments and chimney sections, and always listening to their needs and suggestions. We work together, we collaborate, we always learn, and because there is always room for improvement!

Proof of such amazing collaboration throughout 2023, saw 136 women continuously trained to achieve the best possible results in the kitchen of 105 participating schools.