Teen Boy Helps Women of Darfur By Buying Stoves

A teenage boy has come up with a solution to help protect the women of Darfur: purchasing fuel-efficient stoves for the camps.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on December 29 2008

In Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, women are at risk any time they leave their campsites to take care of errands, leaving themselves open to rape, assault, or even murder. Often, though, they have no choice but to leave: they must wander out of the desert in search of firewood, which can take up to seven hours to gather.

But a 17-year-old boy from Maryland, Spencer Brodsky, has come up with a solution to help protect the women of Darfur: purchasing fuel-efficient stoves for the camps. Because the stoves burn 75 percent less firewood, the women will not need to leave their compounds nearly as often as before.

The stoves are only $30 to purchase, and to date, Brodsky has raised enough money through his website to fund the purchase of 420 stoves which have been sent to Darfur.

Brodsky, who is Jewish, likens the genocide in Darfur to the Holocaust that killed many of his ancestors, and believes that it is his duty to stand up for human rights.

“They always taught about what was happening in that region in that the social injustice that’s happening,” he told CNN. “And how you know how people said during the Holocaust during World War II—you know this can never happen again.”

Brodsky believes that anyone who contributes to a cause can make a significant impact on the world. “The power of one. The power of change and that we can make a difference. Even though I may be only 17 and a teenager, I can make a difference.”

Filed under: Heroes, Non-Profits,

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