Cookstove Adoption: Evelyn from Kabusi, Uganda

April 06, 2015
Mayanja Evelyn: 75 year old widow who keeps her neighbors charged in Kabusi, in central Uganda

Four out of five children have moved to bigger towns so she now lives with one son only. Her daughter bought a HomeStove in Kampala and brought it back to the village which means she now has electricity at her home for the first time in her life. Until recently, she walked to the nearest town every week to charge her phone so that her children can reach her. Now she not only charges her own phone at home but also the phones of her neighbors. She said she is happy to live in the village because they grow their own food and are self-sustaining. One of the few things they don't have is milk, which she now buys from the money she no longer spends on charging her phone in town.

"My name is Evelyn and I am 75 years old. My village is called Kabusi, and there are about 50 people that live here...My daughter brought this stove to me as a gift, and now I think everyone should buy one!"

We don't have electricity at my home but I do have a phone. It used to take me 5 hours if I wanted to charge my phone - going to town, then waiting until my phone charged, and then coming back, and cost me 500 Ugandan Shillings every time. The HomeStove makes me very happy because with this stove I can re-charge from home . . [She smiles] I am now rich. I no longer have to go to town to charge my phone, and with the money I save, I can now afford to buy milk.

Most of the villagers also go to town to charge in the trading centre, but now some of my neighbors come to me with their phone for charging. I earn a little extra, and people in my village admire my stove so much!"