Elizabeth explains it, “The woman is the pillar for the family. I advise them this stove is good. It uses little charcoal and only two pieces of firewood. The performance of the stove is good but it also protects the environment. The old stoves use a lot of firewood. It also polluted the environment. It also produces a lot of smoke. The smoke affects so much in the chest. A lot of people suffer a lot of problems in the chest because of the smoke. For sure when you use this stove the environment is protected. You don’t use a lot of trees. It uses little charcoal and produces little smoke. It is very nice and protects the environment. Even the food no longer smells like smoke.”
Elizabeth is now able to buy vitamins for her family, put food on the table, and send her grandchildren to school. She’s now saving to buy her own office and start a poultry project. And her collaborative spirit keeps giving. She helps teach other women how to make stoves and is part of a collective of women working together in her community. She told us, “I’m feeling so proud of my life. The work has brought me up. I was very down in terms of income. The stove business has uplifted me. Now they greet me as afternoon teacher. People are greeting me with respect because they saw my life has changed. The life that my heart desires, I want to be on the top. Here my body is full of happiness, and I will keep helping other women. And I will keep helping Tanzania.”
It’s not just Elizabeth’s smile that inspires others; it’s her ambition, too.
Thank you for reading and walking a mile in Elizabeth's shoes.
