Post aus Kambodscha!
Strahlend kam heute morgen der Jakob ins Büro: Er hat Post bekommen. Nachrichten aus Kambodscha! Unser Mann vor Ort in Kambodscha, Meng Chanvibol, schreibt uns in einer herzerwärmenden Email vom Glück der Familie Thon. Die Thons konnten durch die Unterstützung von Polarstern im November 2011 ihre eigene Biogasanlage bauen. Seitdem hat sich viel für die Familie aus Kambodscha verändert, sie machen mit der Gas-Energie Licht und kochen damit, was das Biogas für sie bedeutet, das möchten wir Euch natürlich nicht vorenthalten. Lest selbst!
von Polarstern Team Wirklich - Lesezeit: 2 Minuten
Welche Veränderung das Biogas für Familien in Kambodscha bedeutet
Standing on the top of biodigester located just right back of the house, Mr. Touch Thon, 75 years old, with his wife and two granddaughters look very happy after having a new constructed biodigester plant. The family of Mr. Touch Thon, lives in Tompeang Reusey village, Samrong commune, Prey Chhor district located about 25 km from the provincial town of Kampong Cham.
He had his biodigester built in November 2011 with the size of 6 m3 that provides gas for cooking at least 3 hours and lighting 4 hours per day for his family member of 6 people. The digester has 2 cooking stoves, of which one is a special rice cooker, and 3 gas lamps attached. In the morning around 5:30 a.m., like any other farmer, Mr. Touch Thon gets up, takes his 4 cows out of the stable and collects the dung for feeding his biodigester. While the last thing he does before going to bed at 10:00 p.m. is to check the cows and puts up the mosquito net to cover the stable. Besides cattle, the farm consists of a rice-field and a plot for vegetable growing.
Asking about his feelings after having the plant, he replied with a big smile: “I was very excited on the first day of using biogas for cooking and lighting. The biodigester has improved my family life because we could stop going to find firewood, stop paying for firewood and on top of that our kitchen and house are cleaner than before. In the future, my family will raise more cows and keep using the plant because it makes life clean and convenient”. Mrs. Thon is also very happy with the biodigester. For breakfast she usually prepares rice with soup and tea. Before she had to get up very early to get the wood fire going in her old stoves. Especially during the wet season this was very burdensome and caused also a lot of smoke in the house. “Now I have a clean flame instantly without smoke affecting my eyes”, she explains. Also for lunch and dinner the stoves are used. In the evening there is still enough gas left to use the lamps which are installed in the main room of their house, the porch and the kitchen.
The family has paid USD 550 for the plant and after completion they received USD 150 back as investment subsidy. Mr. Touch Thon expects that the biodigester will earn itself back within 3 years because of his savings on wood and kerosene purchases and savings on chemical fertilizer. He has no first-hand experiences yet in the use of the organic fertilizer produced by the plant but colleague farmers in his village are very enthusiastic about it. Without realizing it Mr. Thon almost literally quotes a well-known credit card commercial when he says: “While we had to think hard to make the investment, the convenience it offers is priceless!”
Euer Wechsel zu Polarstern ermöglicht Familien in Kambodscha am Biogas-Projekt teilzunehmen
Vielen, vielen Dank an alle von Euch, die ihr schon zu Polarstern Ökostrom oder Ökogas gewechselt habt! Nur durch Euch können wir die Menschen in Kambodscha unterstützen ? und hoffentlich noch vielen kambodschanischen Familien ein besseres Leben ermöglichen. Danke, danke, danke.
