5426: kerosene stoves, charcoal, and a bright future ;> (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: david@lyalls.net

I have purchased two of the alcohol/kerosene vapor stoves for my
pov family in St Marc. They are tricky to use, requiring
practice to get the timing of the ignition sequence right.

They do have the very great virtue of being hot, and cheap
to operate. I just bought the second one last week, it cost
150 haitian dollars. A lot for a poor family to finance
themselves.

They are very sensitive to the wind however, and must be
operated in a sheltered environment.

The poor people DO know that charcoal is expensive, and
most people WANT a propane stove, altho they are not
nearly as cheap as the kerosene vapor stoves to operate.

propane stove setups seem to be 200 haitian dollars and up.

> From: thor burnham <thorald_mb@hotmail.com>
> 
> On a trip to Haiti in '99 i was introduced to a Cuban two-burner system. It 
> was cast iron and was fuelled by Kerosene. The system was affordable and i 
> purchased it for some friends. It was, however, somewhat complicated and i 
> understand since my trip in 2000 that the people pushing it have backed off 
> because it's been tough for some of them to get the hang of it.