Ajio Beatrice is a married mother of four who wasn’t so sure about joining a World Renew community group in her village in Dricile, Uganda, because it had a savings component. Instead, what Beatrice really wanted was to learn to build an energy-saving stove.

“Even though I was not a member of a group, I saw the stove constructed by World Renew’s partner, KAPDC, during a group training in Dricile.” Beatrice said, “I talked with my husband about it and he had also heard about the new stove, but he didn’t know how to construct it.”

Prompted by its potential benefits, Beatrice continued to inquire about the stove, and soon approached the group leader about joining without participating in the group savings and loan fund: she didn’t think she could afford to invest, and she didn’t trust that the group would actually do what it said with her hard-earned cash.

The leader allowed Beatrice to join the group without participating in the savings program—and Beatrice is glad she did.

“I learned how to build and use the new stove right away,” Beatrice said. “It saves energy and cooks food faster using less firewood. I can now prepare breakfast and boil water for tea at the same time, saving me time and energy. There is also no more smoke inside my kitchen, and I can serve supper as early as 6:30 pm. Instead of using a bundle of firewood in a week, the same size bundle lasts an entire month!”

World Renew is using a low-fuel stove that has several benefits for families in developing countries, especially for the women and children who do most of the cooking. As Beatrice says, the stoves use less firewood, and that saves precious resources and cuts down on fuel costs for the family. The fuel-saving principles behind the stoves are insulation in the stove walls and space for consistent air flow from fuel to chimney.

The stove also burns cleaner, reducing preventable illnesses like respiratory ailments and asthma–or worse. Finally, the stove provides even heating and cooks faster, freeing up precious time that family members can use on otherwise sustaining themselves.

Once Beatrice saw her community group successfully save money and then make small loans to each other, she also began to participate in and benefit from the group’s savings component as well. And she soon plans to start her own business building and selling low-fuel stoves to her neighbors and relatives. “I actually enjoy cooking these days,” she says, “and I have dismantled all of the old-fashioned, energy-wasting stoves in our family’s compound. I am thankful for my husband’s support in building the new stove and for World Renew’s church partner in Dricile for teaching me to save and better manage my money.”