Stories of Change


This is the new, efficient stove in the May 1 kindergarten in Pirveli Maisi, Khobi municipality, Georgia. It uses less wood than the older stoves and keeps the air healthier. Photo: Dragan Srekovic / CWS


CWS works with 550 families across Georgia to adopt the use of Renewable Energy Technologies

Source: "Renewable energy technologies: a win-win in Georgia"

Healthier students, healthier environment

Seventy students between two and six years old attend the kindergarten called May 1 in Pirveli Maisi village in the Khobi municipality of western Georgia. May 1 is one of the 29 kindergartens in Khobi. Like the others, May 1 struggles with issues with heating.

The kindergarten has been using inefficient stoves. Keeping the fires in the stoves going means that the school goes through a lot of firewood. If the air pressure is low or the wind blows the wrong way outside, the smoke from the stoves can fill the classroom. This leads to respiratory problems and other health concerns for both the students and staff.

Lela Kantaria is the Principal of the kindergarten. She attended a community gathering with CWS partner Rural Community Development Agency where she learned about a number of different technologies that are more sustainable. She asked for a fuel efficient stove to be installed in the kindergarten’s cafeteria.

The new stove was installed in September, and with the help of CWS and RCDA, all of the school’s stoves will soon be replaced with fuel efficient ones. That means new stoves for each of the three classrooms in addition to the one now in the cafeteria.

The new stoves can produce the same amount of heat with only half the wood! Having just the one stove has already meant an overall savings of 10 percent of the school’s wood consumption, and that will grow to 50 percent with the new stoves. Of course, it will also mean healthier students and healthier teachers!

Bonus: the new stoves are prettier than the old ones! They have glass windows, so now students can see and hear the fire crackling on cold days.

The market value of each stove is about $220 US. For less than $1,000, we can ensure that students at the May 1 kindergarten can focus on their education without worrying about their health.

Click here to learn more about the Renewable Energy Technologies program in Georgia.