The most significant environmental problem in southern Chad is deforestation, and it is caused by the lack of access to electricity and the continued dependence on firewood. It is estimated that less than 3% of the population in Chad has access to electricity, so families throughout the country rely heavily on firewood and charcoal as their only source of energy, the use of which causes severe health and environmental problems.

The recent influx of refugees from Central African Republic and Sudan into southern Chad is making things worse as the displaced refugees are now competing with local inhabitants over natural resources for firewood and construction materials, leading to more deforestation, soil erosion and depletion and pollution of water resources.

Barh Koh ESDA has undertaken this project to supply environment safe products that will provide energy to poor rural communities in southern Chad, whether for cooking or for indoor lighting, to help reduce their dependence on firewood, thus reducing the rate of deforestation. This initiative will also improve living conditions by eliminating smoke inhalation and eyesight problems associated with traditional wood-burning fires. It will also eliminate the health and environmental risks associated with the use of kerosene lanterns and stoves.

Providing solar Lanterns for poor families and students
Solar lanterns are eco-friendly and safe. A Traditional Set of 2 Solar Lanterns can cost around $40 to $60, including shipping and handling; they are eco-friendly and will reduce the risks of fire hazards associated with kerosene lamps and firewood burning. A solar lantern will enable a rural student to study and do his homework after sunset and in the process, improve his performance. Providing solar Cookers/Stoves to poor rural families
Solar cookers cost at least $40 while solar stoves/ovens may cost at least $300; which constitute a very small investment to help relieve poverty and save the environment at the same time. Solar cookers and stoves are safe; they cause no danger of fire or burns associated with wood burning.

Providing Solar Flashlights to poor families and students
A solar flashlight is an emergency product that would help save lives in rural families who spend their evenings and nights in perpetual darkness and thus, subject to all sorts of insects, reptiles and other elements. It can also be used by students who have no access to lanterns or any other source of light to do their assignments when it is dark. A solar flashlight costs about $20 to $30 and weighs less than 2lbs.

Our goal is to provide one solar cooker/stove, one set of solar lantern and one set of solar flashlight per average family size of 6 members – 31 January 2010.  This work simply wouldn't be possible without your support, so we are asking for your help. 


Please click on this link http://www.barhkoh.org to make a secure online donation today (either for a flashlight, a lantern, a cooker or an oven) and help us protect the environment and make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged people of southern Chad.

Thank you for your support!!

http://www.slideshare.net/titki/share-happiness-help-relieve-poverty

"Share Happiness - Help Relieve Poverty" is a poverty awareness PowerPoint presentation by Barh Koh Environment and Sustainable Development Aid.

Please click on the link above to view the presentation, and please do share it with all your friends, contacts and groups.

TORONTO, 18 Octobre 2007 - The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was won jointly by former US Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations (UN) InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. The Nobel Peace Prize goes to all members of the IPCC group, including Dr. Tabo Ramadjita.


Dr. Tabo Ramadjita is a scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and is presently the Regional Deputy Director for the West and Central Africa region, and he is based in Niger. Tabo has also been a member of the IPCC since 2004. He is one of the Lead Authors for the chapter on Africa which is one of the 20 chapters covered in the IPCC Working Group II (WG II) Fourth Assessment Report.


Since 2004, Dr. Tabo Ramadjita has attended several IPCC WG II Group writing meetings in Vienna, Austria; Cairns, Australia; Merida, Mexico; Cape Town, South Africa and Cairo, Egypt. Dr. Tabo Ramadjita is a native of Chad, and also an active member of “Barh Koh Environment and Sustainable Development Aid (Barh Koh ESDA)”, a grassroots environmental organization based right here in Toronto which has recently gained support from Scotia Bank, Abba Community Fellowship, the Ontario Diabetes Foundation, GE Gas & Oil, RBC and many more.


Tabo is not only the first ICRISAT scientist to win this prestigious award, but he is also the first Chadian and the first scientist from Central Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the environment.


Barh Koh ESDA is very proud to have Tabo Ramadjita as one of its active members, and we congratulate him for being a Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize as a member of the IPCC.


This is an outstanding achievement and a great honor to Tabo Ramadjta in particular and to ICRISAT, the IPCC, his homeland Chad, and the entire continent of Africa.

!! CONGRATULATIONS, Dr. TABO RAMADJITA !!

By: Titki D. Tarassoum

Toronto, March 7, 2008: The country of Chad has endured more than 40 years of civil strife, and hundreds of thousands of civilians are estimated to have died in Chad as the result of armed conflicts and widespread poverty in the past.

The recent clashes between government forces and rebel groups in Chad’s capital city of N’Djaména had once again killed hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 55,000 people into cramped and desolate refugee camps in neighboring Cameroun. 

While stability is slowly returning to N’Djaména, the country of Chad needs help to rebuild and to address the widespread poverty that has been afflicting its inhabitants for decades.


Adding to its own development challenges, Chad faces other difficulties as tens of thousands of refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) have recently crossed into southern Chad. In addition, eastern Chad has been home to more than 250,000 refugees uprooted by the 5-year old conflict in Darfur, and more than 13,000 Sudanese have recently arrived in Chad as Darfur continues to be scourged by a wave of militia attacks.

More often, it is the children, women, the elderly and the environment who suffer the most from ongoing insecurity and armed conflicts in the region.

By: Titki D. Tarassoum