Roche Village School Cook Stove
Students: Michael Flanagan, Thaddaeus Voss, Mary Cate Mcintyre, Brianna Tomasi, Sruthi Sundaram
In order to improve the cooking process of ujii (a porridge-type breakfast served at Roche Primary School) both for efficiency and for health of the cooks, we worked on building a brick and mortar cookstove. The stove, which was about five and a half feet square, was started by five students and Daniel, a veteran builder with Village Life, using Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks that stack together. Over two work days, we set the mortar foundation and three rows of bricks, placed reinforcing steel, and started the top mortar layer. After we left, Daniel finished the mortar stove tops and stove pipe. It was an incredible experience working so closely with native residents of Roche, interacting with the curious school-children that wandered over to watch, and adjusting our planning based on Daniel’s experience and the cooks’ requests. |