Indoor Air Pollution 353
Improved ventilation solves many problems
Ndito, a mother of 3 children,
once began every morning with
a terrible coughing fit. When she
built a fire in the kitchen to heat
water and prepare food, the house
filled with smoke, causing Ndito to
wheeze. Each breath was painful
and labored. The smoke in Ndito’s
kitchen gave her asthma.
Because of her health problems,
Ndito and her husband Refa
agreed to join the Kenya Smoke
and Health Project. Refa learned to
measure the air pollution in their
house, and found that the amount
of smoke was very unhealthy.
Refa and Ndito decided to make
changes to reduce the smoke
pollution.
Project workers helped Ndito
build a hood over her stove with
a chimney to remove smoke
from the house. Also, Refa built
new, larger windows to improve
ventilation. With less smoke in the house, the family spends more time
together. The windows also make it easier for Ndito to watch over their
livestock, and they let in more light, making it easier to do beadwork.
Before these changes, Refa stayed away from the kitchen. Now he wakes
up before dawn to start the fire and puts on a pot of water for tea. Ndito is
relieved from waking up early and doing all the chores by herself. The new
smoke hood and chimney have reduced the amount of soot, so Ndito has less to
clean. Her coughing fits are less common now. Refa and Ndito had to pay for
the smoke hood, but the changes they made improved Ndito’s health and will
protect the whole family from illness. Better health improved their livelihood,
so the money they spent on the smoke hood is an investment in their future.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012