An international organisation – Fuel for Change – already provided 850 gas stoves to Kalyanpur slum residents, and plans to expand their coverage and serve other slums in Dhaka as well
Khadija’s 45-day old baby was sleeping on a worn-out wooden bed while she hastily prepared lunch. Khadija, her family, and their tin-shed room have no kitchen. Instead, an earthen stove is located in a corner of the room right next to the door.
She was stirring the rice in a pot. A crude chimney, cut from the tin wall and located above the stove, was spewing thick, black smoke.
We visited the Kalyanpur Naunbazar Bostee just a few days before lunchtime. Like Khadija’s, many residents were heating up with firewood and filling the narrow alleyways with smoke.
Alamtaj Shathi was Khadija’s neighbor and it was a much cleaner scene in his room. On a gas stove, she was heating up cereal for her son. She shared her experience with us, “Gas stove made life easier, firewood was such a hassle I can’t even describe,”
A gas stove typically costs between Tk2,500-Tk3,000. Alamtaj bought hers for just Tk1,000. She could do so with the help of Fuel for Change (F4C) an international charity organisation working on providing access to clean cooking fuels in Dhaka slums.
The organisation’s business model is similar to this: A new stove, regulator, and gas cylinder costs $50 (approximately TK3,000). F4C contributes $15, which is approximately Tk1,000 per user.
Photo: Noor-A-Alam
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Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Registered in Queensland, Australia F4C runs on funds from individual donations. Dr Mark Jones, the founder, explained that F4C also receives help from Rotary clubs. He also posted on office notice boards. We try to reach as many people as we can.
F4C founder Mark Jones wants to improve the well-being of families living within Dhaka’s slums by providing them gas stoves.
F4C provided gas stoves for 850 residents of Kalyanpur Natunbazar Bolee. Gas cylinders can be purchased in the slum from shops.
In Bangladesh, indoor pollution from cooking stoves is a major cause of death each year. The biggest source of the PM2.5 air pollutant is also residential fuel use. It is no surprise that women are more likely to be exposed to PM2.5 than men because they spend most of their time around stoves.
As Nurtaj and Saleha, Runa, and other women, told us, cooking with solid fuel or firewood can cause dense smoke that stains utensils. One of them stated that the stains can be removed only by thorough soap washing. The smoke adds heat and a pleasant smell to the rooms.
F4C’s Mark and his team want to improve the wellbeing of families living within Dhaka’s slums by providing them gas stoves. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
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By providing them with gas stoves, Mark and his team at F4C want to improve the overall wellbeing of families living in Dhakas slums. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
How F4C began
“These people have nothing to learn from me, it is I who has so much to learn from them. Mark said that he was so grateful to have met the Kalyanpur Bostee residents.
Mark is an architect and associate professor at the University of Queensland. He met the residents while visiting the slum in 2019 for his PhD research on energy practices and energy justice.
He witnessed firsthand how difficult and frustrating it was for women to cook with firewood. He said, “These women work so hard for their children and their households run smoothly,” adding, “I wanted nothing more than to help them.”
Fuel for Change started its journey in July 2021, after six months spent implementing the plan.
F4C’s Mark and his team want to improve the wellbeing of families living in Dhaka’s slums by providing them gas stoves. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
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By providing them with gas stoves, Mark and his team at F4C want to improve the overall wellbeing of families living in Dhakas slums. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Mark’s friend and colleague of many years Wendy Truer is the organisation’s secretary.While Mark was researching about the slum, she offered to help him out. She explained that she spent weeks in the “bostee” to conduct a survey. There, she spoke with the people and felt their pain.
She was impressed by the women’s resilience and said that they try to educate their children, feed their families, and also fight off their insecurities.
Mark and Wendy initially planned to open a small pharmacy, but it was too difficult to manage gas stoves.
Wendy said, “Every time a new user purchases a stove, we see their/his picture and it’s so satisfying to watch the progress.”
F4C’s Mark and his team want to improve the wellbeing of families living in Dhaka’s slums by providing gas stoves. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
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By providing them with gas stoves, Mark and his team at F4C want to improve the overall wellbeing of families living in Dhakas slums. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
According to the residents, firewood is more popular because it is cheaper; one-kilo costs around Tk12 and a small family usually needs around three kilos every day for cooking. This means that firewood is worth approximately Tk1,000 per month.
A Tk1,250 gas cylinder lasts for one month and costs Tk1,250. The cost of gas and firewood is nearly the same. Hence, many gas stove users felt discouraged from using gas stoves.
It could be due to syndicates that raise gas prices and sellers who sell gas at Tk1,400 and Tk1,500 instead the government-set price Tk1,200.
By providing them with gas stoves, Mark and his team at F4C want to improve the overall wellbeing of families living in Dhakas slums. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
By providing them with gas stoves, Mark and his team at F4C want to improve the overall wellbeing of families living in Dhakas slums. Photo: Noor-A-Alam