The Foreign Service Journal, April 2011

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33 ne of my earliest childhood memories growing up in India was watching my grand- mother in the kitchen at a smoky “chulha” — the rudimentary three-sided clay stove that still serves as the hearth in millions of rural South Asian homes. Cooking on a chulha takes much longer than using an electric or gas-fired range, and it is intensely backbreaking work. The process also produces a great deal of smoke and soot, ensuring that I spent as little time as possible in my grandmother’s kitchen. F OCUS ON W OMEN IN S ECUR I TY AND D EVELOPMENT C OOK S TOVES : F ROM B ANE TO B OON T ODAY , I NDIAN WOMEN HAVE A REAL CHANCE TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVES , THANKS TO THE G LOBAL C OOK S TOVE A LLIANCE . B Y S ATINDER B INDRA Ben Fishman O