kakuma refugee camp stove project

Kakuma Refugee Camp was first established in 1992 as a support for South Sudan boys. It is now one of the world’s largest refugee camps, supporting children and families from a number of different countries, including South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Uganda and Rwanda. 

With many families in need of basic human resources, a main concern is areas around food. Our project focused on stoves in the refugee camps as raw resources such as wood and charcoal are being used very rapidly; furthermore, the quantity of the stoves are very limited.

Our project focused on empowering the people of Kakuma by designing a DIY mold kit to build a stove. The stove would supply families in each home and featured mud bricks, stone legs, and an iron plate supplied. The dimensions of the stove would support dishes found commonly in their diets such as, rice, cooked vegetables, chapati, and beans.

Overall.

  • What

    Our problem statement: How might we provide continued access to family cooking while preserving cultural integrity and mitigating environmental and human health hazards in Kakuma?

  • How

    Conducting research on materials available at the refugee camp and common diets of their people. This would allow to make a solution that is functional and resourceful. Furthermore, empathize with current struggles of refugees at the camps.

  • Results

    A mold design DIY kit solution empowering the refugees of Kakuma by using resources such as clay and adobe to create the molds and design the stoves for their families. Mold kits were 3D printed and build was simulated to withstand 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

DIY.

What greater joy than building something and using it! The mold featured is stainless steel and will aid in curing the process of clay/mud molding by shaping the stove layer-by-layer. An aluminum plate would be included to enclose the stove. The process of building the stove and using it to cook food adds to the idea of connecting people around food in a much more involved manner.