InStove, which produces and develops cleaner cooking technologies, is drawing international figures to Cottage Grove. This Week, Zambian Ambassador, His Excellency Palan Mulonda met with researchers, and government officials, including Cottage Grove Mayor Thomas Munroe.
The purpose of Ambassador Mulonda’s visit was to learn about InStove’s humanitarian technologies, and future collaborations. Zambia is currently building a factory to construct energy efficient and healthier cook stoves. Part of the Ambassador’s visit included integration of improved water purification systems, both using InStove’s designs. Mulonda said many forests in Zambia are in danger of being over-logged.
Mulonda: “Many rural dwellers, if not all, rely on firewood and charcoal for their household energy supplies. The pressure on this resource is high everywhere. And so, when we see an initiative that mitigates the over-exploitation of the resource we are trying to sustainably use, we get excited.”
Ambassador Mulonda addressed several connections between Cottage Grove and Zambia. He discussed partnering with the city Mayor Thomas Munroe says he looks forward to the idea.
Munroe: “They have, we’ll say, similar problems to us, their concerns about their water, their sanitation problems. And it could be, down the road, there might be some help we could possibly become a sister city to these folks.”
Ambassador Mulonda also met with University of Oregon President Michael Gottfredson and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy earlier in the week.
copyright, 2014 KLCC