BLACK INSIDE: Three Women’s Voices - is a triptych film created for the United Nations Foundation's - Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, (www.cleancookstoves.org) that lends an intimate perspective to an urgent global public health and environmental threat.
*Nearly three billion people still cook over an open fire, yet this age-old method of cooking ranks as the planet’s fourth largest killer. Chronic exposure to toxic smoke from solid fuels, or household air pollution (HAP), affects entire families. The death toll is staggering: nearly six million lives are lost worldwide to HAP every year.
To help lend awareness - Black Inside points to a simple, low-cost solution – substituting clean cookstoves for traditional cooking methods – that can save lives as well as conserve vital natural resources. The film journeys to remote areas on three continents to document captivating vignettes of a trio of strong, resilient women. Despite geographical and cultural differences, Sarah, Vandana and Monica belong to a vast sisterhood whose uniquely personal stories mirror epic global issues: Household Air Pollution (HAP) as well as poverty, women’s and children’s health, deforestation, carbon emissions and sustainable change.
Each speaks eloquently on behalf of the millions more who would benefit from the life-saving, clean cooking devices. “The old stoves, they make this world black. They also make us black inside,” says Sarah, a Gabra tribeswoman in Kenya's northern deserts. With newfound hope for their families’ health and future, and more time and money to spend, the women become inspired change agents in their communities – starting businesses, investing in the lives of others, and giving more of themselves to their children.
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership that seeks to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions.