Winnie Au, Anne Chalmers, Bob Craft, Bob Eordman, Brian Krung, Elena Villanueva, Heather Auyang, Hiromi Koynma, Jack Krakower, Jeanne Hansel, Jillian Stephens, Karen Brooks, Lillian Basile, Marco Ghattas, Margaret Pfeiffer, Mark Seldes, Paul Francis, Raven Cohan, Reggie Wallace, Robyn Kravit, Shannan Catalano, Susan Nash, Susan Safer, Susan Weiss, & Tom Brose contributed 12,373 RMB that was supplemented by a local contribution of 6,830 RMB for a total project value of 19,203 RMB (cost per beneficiary = USD$ 2.64). The project provided 140 families (952 Tibetans) with solar cookers at an administrative cost of 0.7% of the total. Locals are farmers who subsist by cultivating the infertile soil of the surrounding mountains. All residents depend on non-irrigated fields and a few head of yak, sheep and goats per household. The village leaders estimate that village income averages between 250 and 300 RMB per person per year, earned mostly through collecting medicinal herbs and selling them to local traders. With such limited income, most households accumulate large debts. Solar cookers have given women and girls more time to do other activities and rest, because they no longer must spend so much time collecting animal dung and other organic material from the denuded mountains and narrow valleys. Mr. Caihang (b. 1959) of Agong Chunwa Village has a family of eight. As the family head, he must stay at home during the season when medicinal herbs are collected to care for the children in his family. Before receiving a solar cooker, he made a fire to boil water and cook. Now, he uses the solar cooker to boil water and cook. Other recipients reported similar benefits. [Administrative Location: Jinyuan Township > Hualong Hui Autonomous County > Haidong Region > Qinghai Province > PRC]

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