There are only 4 more days to vote for Nepalese innovator Sanu Kaji Shrestha and his organization FoST in the global competition organized by BBC World.
Voting closes this Friday, 16th November, so if you haven't voted yet or if you haven't told your friends and family to vote, do it now!

Why would you vote for FoST?

To be honest, all the 12 finalists are great and doing fantastic work, but very important is that FoST is not targeting only one certain group or only one certain problem. They are looking for answers and solutions to stop the vicious circle the rural and urban poor are facing not only in Nepal, but on our whole planet.

With their simple, but highly effective solutions they are fighting important global problems such as:

- POVERTY (by educating and empowering communities, teach them how to save costs, creating opportunities for them to earn extra money and even start their own business)

- POLLUTION (by introducing more sustainable technologies and clean renewable energies such as solar power for daily use)

- WASTE AND GARBAGE (by using waste such as paper, saw dust etc... to make briquettes as fuel)

- DEFORESTATION (by using briquettes made from waste instead of wood)

- DESERTIFICATION / LANDSLIDES  (caused by clearing of trees and plants for firewood)

- ILLNESSES CAUSED BY INDOOR AIR POLLUTION such as eye and lung diseases (by introducing more efficient cooking stoves creating less smoke)

- ILLNESSES CAUSED BY CONTAMINATED WATER such as diarrhea, parasites, cholera... (by introducing simple water purification systems working on solar power)

- ILLNESSES CAUSED BY LACK OF HYGIENE (by introducing simple hygienic solar drying devices - food is longer kept and of better quality)

- HIGH FUEL COSTS FOR COOKING (by teaching people how to make their own fuel briquettes from waste materials, therefor lowering their daily costs of fuel (20% of daily costs). Fuels such as fire wood, kerosene and L.P. gas are becoming more and more expensive)

- OUTCASTS (by empowering and educating orphans, handicapped, blind, deaf, mentally retarded, people suffering from diseases or suffering because of an accident... FoST empowers them by education and teaches them skills enabling them to be independent and important to the community)

- TIME CONSUMING DAILY TASKS such as fetching wood for cooking (by creating more efficient cooking devices - cooking with briquettes and / or solar power)

To vote go to: http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/cooking.php  (Cooking without gas)

thanks, Sandra Wijnveldt - www.gorpproductions.com  - http://blog.gorpproductions.com/