Changu Changu Moto for Fast Fast Fire

If you've been following The Mlambe Project at all you'll know that we love innovation. We're always on the look out for simple, practical and cost-effective solutions to help change lives in Chikolongo and wider Malawi.

Recently our CEO Lucy, joined by our volunteer Chelsea, paid a visit to Ripple Africa in Mwaya, Nkhata Bay District. There they learned about the Changu Changu Moto which in Chichewa means: fast fast fire. These are fuel-efficient cookstoves made from mud bricks and a mud mortar mix. It is an adaptation of a design by Dr Larry Winiarski adapted with loads of testing by Ripple Africa.

Mud Mortar Stove

Ripple Africa Visit

Ripple Africa Team

Changu Changu Moto

We're currently at the research stage for a mud stove project so everything we learned was a huge step closer to being able to utilise them down the line. The design is incredibly simple but makes a huge difference to women's workload in the household (and it is almost always women who do this kind of work in Malawi), as well as reducing both environmental and health problems associated with traditional open wood fires, which are still widely used throughout the community in Chikolongo.

The benefits of the Changu Changu Moto are laid out on the Ripple Africa website:

• Reduces household wood use from three bundles of wood per week to just one.

• Contains the fire within the cookstove at the side of the kitchen, reducing injuries from burns.

• Has a double burner so that two pots can be cooked at the same time, saving time.

• Produces substantially less smoke than the traditional three-stone fire, reducing coughing and breathing problems.

• Takes just one hour to make and is made from FREE local and readily available materials.

• Is LOVED by the women that use it!

For us the project ticks every box: a big help to the local community, environmentally friendly, easy to teach and spread among the people, and cost-effective.

To learn more about the stoves, visit Ripple Africa