Meet Louise Williamson: Owner of Mashesha Stoves

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Louise Williamson the local social entrepreneur was named the winner&comma; in the education category&comma; of the African Entrepreneurship Awards held in Casablanca&comma; Morocco in December 2017 for her pioneering invention – Mashesha Stoves&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Williamson has won a number of awards for the clean-cooking practical stoves&period; The AEA competition received more than 5000 entries from across the continent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Winners were named in 12 categories&comma; among them Williamson&period; She explained that the competition comprised a number of rounds&comma; and saw entrants judged in various categories&comma; among them their feasibility&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><b>Mashesha stoves are not the only cook stoves on the market&comma; but are considerably larger than anything else that is available&comma; which is makes it suitable for large-scale cooking such as in schools&period;<&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The benefit the stoves offer schools specifically is why they won in the education category&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Williamson added that she developed the stove specifically for schools in rural areas&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Usually these schools don’t have proper kitchens so they cook bent over a fire&period; Sometimes they get donated kitchens but they can’t afford to maintain them&comma; and they return to the traditional cooking method&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><b>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The smoke is terrible for their eyes and lungs and uses a lot of wood&comma; which the gogos often have to chop themselves before cooking for all the children&comma;” she explained&period;<&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Mashesha stoves uses strategically placed air vents that enables the stove to reuse the smoke it emits for heat and use less firewood&period; It is also tall enough that an adult can use it standing up straight and has bars to keep the pot from falling off&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It can also work with a waste cardboard and mieliepap mix&comma; making the stoves even more sustainable&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A number of local companies have come on board by donating Mashesha stoves to schools as part of their corporate social investment strategies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you too want to get involved&comma; contact Sustainability Professionals on 072-436-8347 or visit mashesha&period;co&period;za&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Original Source&colon; https&colon;&sol;&sol;lowvelder&period;co&period;za&sol;419585&sol;mashesha-stoves<&sol;p>&NewLine;