© 1996 William R. Stein
These girls are sitting next to our newly constructed mud stove, or murhun zamani in Hausa. This was one of the first projects I attempted. Mud stoves cook faster and use less wood than the traditional cooking method (a pot on top of three rocks). The women love the idea because they are the ones who cook and gather wood, and it makes their jobs easier. This photo was taken right after we had built the mud form around the pot. The following day, after it had dried a little, we would come back and cut holes for the pot to go in and out on top and for wood to go between the support legs. Unfortunately, though we built 20 of them, the idea never really caught on in the village, because men are the only ones who work with mud, and I couldn't train men to go into other men's wives' yards to construct the stoves. But the stoves are very popular in other parts of Niger.
| Back to List | Next Photo |