Pesitho – PESITHO

Individual training on the ECOCA

admin — Tue, 19 May 2020 15:54:40 +0000

Working with our local partners from Karuna Mission Social Solidarity and Caritas Uganda, we at Pesitho have been able to ensure that each individual family receiving the ECOCA, will receive full training on their new cookstove. This not only to gives a greater sense of confidence when using the ECOCA for their everyday needs like cooking, charging and using the lamps, but also allows for better a sense of ownership.

We understand that changing ones cooking methods as well as adapting to new technology can feel overwhelming, deterring people from integrating the ECOCA into their daily routine. In this way, individual training can ensure that the end users feel comfortable adopting the cook stove, learning how to use the solar panel, the different modes of cooking, charging small electronic items and making best use of the two ECOCA lamps.

We want our ECOCA households to enjoy the process of cooking without being exposed to the harmful pollutants that derive from cooking with solid biomass and plastic. In this way, families will also spend less time on fuel collection benefiting both family members daily life and environmental impacts.

World Environment Day 2019 with Pesitho in Uganda

admin — Fri, 15 May 2020 14:09:30 +0000

It is here, World Environment Day! This is incredibly important day to us at Pesitho since so much of our work seeks to have a direct impact on environmental issues, including reducing deforestation and air pollution associated with burning solid biomass for cooking.

To celebrate this day, our partners from Caritas Uganda, Gloria and Judith, have been presenting the ECOCA cookstove at the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda. To demonstrate the benefits of using our smokeless cook stove they decided to cooked some boiled eggs. Taking just a few minutes to prepare the simple dish, simply requiring the press of a button, it was a great way to show how easy it is to switch cooking techniques to everyday cooking. This also gave the partners a chance to talk about what World Environment Day means, particularly reducing firewood consumptions and the impact that smoke and soot particles can have on one’s health.

Special thanks to Gloria, Judith and Caritas Uganda

Pesitho Office Tour

admin — Fri, 15 May 2020 12:38:47 +0000

Back in the beginning, our office was located at the Innovatorium in Herning just outside the university.

Watch our CEO Thorben giving a tour of the space where the story of Pesitho began.

Video edited by Amalie Vilstrup

Feedback from our work in Uganda with the ECOCA

admin — Fri, 15 May 2020 12:19:37 +0000

Since installing ECOCA cookstoves to 50 families at the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement, we have had some updates from Simon from Pesitho and some of our great partners at Caritas Uganda. Simon has been working hard conducting technical training with the team from Caritas, ensuring there are on the ground partners, who are from both the local community and residents of the settlement, can address any technical issues with the ECOCA.

Cooking

Many of the families who have received an ECOCA have stated that they prefer the taste of their food. Since most of the dishes cooked tend to require boiling, such as rice, beans or porridge, cooking over fire can often result in small pieces of ash falling into the pot, making the food taste very bitter. Other times there is an overwhelming taste of smoke which takes away the intended flavours of the dish.

Simon was able to take part in one of the dish creation activities, where our Caritas partners test out different dishes cooked on the ECOCA. This time it was an omelette.

The pilot ECOCA has two heat options: low and high. Using high is for cooking meals like beans and rice. Low is for reheating meals since most families tend to cook a large meal at lunch time and reheat the food for their meal in the evening.

To make an omelette, simply select high. Add some oil followed by eggs and let the omelette cook. Place the lid on the pot to allow the food to cook faster.

Firewood

Although it is still early stages, many of the ECOCA households have already commented on reducing their firewood consumption. This has not only reduced costs for many families, but also the time spent for on collecting firewood when purchasing is not an option – an arduous task than can take between 2-6 hours.

ECOCA Lamp

Having the LED lamps not only make indoor cooking late at night possible with the lamp being shared between 2 rooms, but also household chores, homework sessions, reading time ( 7/15 families mentioned their home has become a study home for neighbouring children), going to latrines late at night and also having more time for children to stay up and play. Families have said their home is now ‘full of light’ and that many ‘feel more secure’ now with their lamps!

Pesitho at World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator 2019

admin — Wed, 06 May 2020 15:48:02 +0000

On the 15^th of February 2019 Pesitho took part in the World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator in Munich, Germany. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to broadcast some of our goals with the ECOCA, addressing issues like the impacts of cooking with solid biomass fuel of health and the environment.

The WFP Innovation Accelerator provides support to start ups like ourselves who create solutions worldwide hunger. We were able to work for WFP staff who offer hands on support and WFP operations.

To end the week, our CEO Thorben presented live on WFPs Facebook page our work with the ECOCA. Our goal is to install 50,000 ECOCAs to support the families who rely heavily on firewood and charcoal for cooking, improving their livelihoods all around.

“At Pesitho, we have spent the last year prototyping and testing Solution-A with refugees. We know the importance of testing in the right environment with the right end users. I am happy to let you know that tomorrow morning, the first 50 ECOCAs will be arriving at the Bidibidi Settlement in Uganda where we will be installing these. We will then go onto Myanmar to install the next 50 units”- Thorben Nielsen.

Following installation, Pesitho, Caritas Denmark and students from Aarhus University will spend 3 months retrieving feedback on from the beneficiary families in order to develop the next solution.

You can watch the entire broadcast here. Fast forward to minute 00:26:00 to see our CEO, Thorben in action.

Green Technology Innovations Lifting People out of Poverty

admin — Wed, 06 May 2020 09:40:58 +0000

Pesitho was mentioned by Caritas Denmark in their article about Green Technology Innovations. You can read the full article here:

Pesitho has developed the a device which they call ‘ECOCA’. It is a solar cooker and solar home system in one. It consists of an electric stove top, a battery pack and a solar panel array. This provides a potential solution to the deforestation taking place in many settings globally, especially around many refugee settlements. The ECOCA comes with a highly insulated pot which will keep food warm for hours. The cooker uses small, compact solar panels to generate electricity which is stored in the built-in battery.

In a standard configuration, an average sub-Saharan rural family will easily have its daily cooking needs covered by the cooker. The battery pack is sufficient to ensure efficient running of the kitchen for several hours after dark. The cooker is also fitted with a standard USB port for charging smartphones and an AUX power outlet for small appliances such as razors. The unit is equipped with an LED light, making indoor activities such as education and handcrafts possible after sunset without the usage of conventional fuel sources. In this way, the ECOCA also functions as the family’s power supply with no operational costs.

Image from Caritas Denmark