Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to thank your readers who participated in the Trocaire/2FM 24 hour fast on February 28th and March 1st this year and to thank those who sent in their sponsorship money so quickly.
Since the fast first started six years ago, we have raised over £2.5 million. This money has funded some of our most vital projects in some of the poorest countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. One such project in Latin America is the funding of solar ovens for women's groups in Guatemala.
In the Guatemalan village of Santa Catanna, Antonia Vasquez is still in bed at five o clock in the morning. Just six months earlier, she would have been up at 2 a.m., walking the hills around her village, collecting firewood to make breakfast for her family. However, thanks to the generous support of Trocaire fasters in Ireland Antonia's life and that of her community has improved immensely since a group of 28 women in her village get involved in a solar oven project.
Due to this project, women don't spend hours looking for wood any longer; solar cooking requires minimal attention so Antonia and the other women now have time to concentrate on their personal growth - literacy, education, improved self esteem and learning skills such as carpentry and the handling of tools. The women build the ovens themselves and they learn how to repair and maintain them.
Antonia's health also benefits from the solar ovens project. She is no longer exposed to smoke, thus reducing respiratory, skin and eye infections. Moreover, her children are not exposed to the risk of burns from the open fire. Food from the solar ovens is more nutritious and hygienically cooked. All this is saving the environment and lessening the deforestation in the village. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for their support and I urge those who haven't yet returned their sponsorship money to do so as soon as possible.
Yours, etc., Director, Trocaire, Blackrock Co Dublin.