Yana Paskova - Photojournalist, Writer, Editor

Grant Work | Visual Story Editing | Project Management: The Power of Poo

I ideated, proposed, won an International Women’s Media Foundation grant, and executed as part of a team of producers and journalists all parts of this project focusing on an NGO effort to mitigate the effects of wood-burning and deforestation in rural parts of Rwanda by arming the local population with biogas digesters, which was published by Yahoo News and awarded by TED’s Visualizing Climate Change initiative. (As part of the same collaborative effort, I also published a photo story in National Geographic on dogs' newly therapeutic role in Kigali.) 

- The Power of Poo 

Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many of its people spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig — not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo — the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.  

 

  • A road snakes through Kigali, Rwanda on November 19, 2017. The land-locked African nation relies on hydropower and wood-burning for its energy, emissions from which combine with automotive and bike exhaust to form a blanket of pollution. While Rwanda is making an effort to source more climate-friendly fuels, the country has already experienced temperature increases higher than the global average, which are projected to continue to rise by 2.5 degrees C from its 1970 temperatures, by the 2050s. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Driving through thick smog in Kigali, Rwanda, on November 14, 2017. The land-locked African nation relies on hydropower and wood-burning for its energy, emissions from which combine with automotive and bike exhaust to form a blanket of pollution. While Rwanda is making an effort to source more climate-friendly fuels, like biogas, the country has already experienced temperature increases higher than the global average, which are projected to continue to rise by 2.5¬∞C from its 1970 temperatures, by the 2050s. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Smoke rises as twelve-year-old Sandra Gihozo blows onto a pot of beans, stoking the wooden fire beneath it in Mount Kigali village in Rwanda, on November 12, 2017. Her aunt Ruth Uwamahoro says Sandra's eyes and throat often hurt from the smoke, and that wood gathering sometimes makes her miss schoolwork.Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Kamana Jean, 56 years old, carries wood by a road snaking through Mount Kigali, Rwanda on November 17, 2017. Jean said he'd be more happy to use something else - like biogas - to cook with, adding that wood smoke flavors his food and it is hard on the body, creating problems with eyesight for him and his eight children and wife. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Gakuru Yassin, 21, carries a branch found in the forest to be used as wood for cooking on November 13, 2017 in Mount Kigali, Rwanda. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Terrace farming, which helps decrease erosion and surface runoff, is seen on November 15, 2017 in the Rulindo District, Rwanda. Wood gathering causes much of the deforestation and soil erosion in the country. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Workers clean up at Drimex, a biogas digester assembly factory owned by Dusabe Jean Bosco, on November 17, 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Jean Claude Niyibizi, 30, sweeps up pig poo as his wife, Christine Manirafasha, 26, (not seen,) cooks food with a grill connected to a biogas digester received via Oxfam, on November 16, 2017 in their home in Gakenke, Rwanda. Manirafasha says it is easier and quicker to cook with biogas, and that smoke had become a problem while cooking with wood. Her only adjustment, she says, was to remember to turn the gauge to the off position. Having the digester has also allowed her to develop further activities, like a chicken farm and tailoring business.Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • (C-R) Christine Manirafasha, 26, and her husband, Jean Claude Niyibizi, 30, who are the recipients of an Oxfam biogas digester, prepare to eat some eggs they've cooked with it on November 16, 2017 in their home in Gakenke, Rwanda. Manirafasha says it is easier and quicker to cook with biogas, and that smoke had become a problem while cooking with wood. Her only adjustment, she says, was to remember to turn the gauge to the off position. Having the digester has also allowed her to develop further activities, like a chicken farm and tailoring business.Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • The pig whose poo is used in Etiene Twagirayezu's biogas digester, seen in his yard in Rutabo, Rwanda on November 18, 2017. Twagirayezu says that before his digester, he'd spend up to 3 hours a day gathering 10 kilograms of wood, and saw kids get injured climbing trees and be late to school doing the same. He added he was happy his workload at home was reduced due to being able to use his cow's and pig's poo instead of wood as fuel, as well as about the resulting lessening of deforestation. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • The animal poo inside Etiene Twagirayezu's biogas digester, seen in front of his home in Rutabo, Rwanda on November 18, 2017. Twagirayezu says that before his digester, he'd spend up to 3 hours a day gathering 10 kilograms of wood, and saw kids get injured climbing trees and be late to school doing the same. He added he was happy his workload at home was reduced due to being able to use his cow's and pig's poo instead of wood as fuel, as well as about the resulting lessening of deforestation. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Etiene Twagirayezu, 60, talks about his biogas digester in front of his home in Rutabo, Rwanda, on November 18, 2017. Twagirayezu says that before his digester, he'd spend up to 3 hours a day gathering 10 kilograms of wood, and saw kids get injured climbing trees and be late to school doing the same. He added he was happy his workload at home was reduced due to being able to use his cow's and pig's poo instead of wood as fuel, as well as about the resulting lessening of deforestation. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • The chicken farm Etiene Twagirayezu, 60, was able to create as a result of saving time via cooking with a biogas digester at his home in Rutabo, Rwanda on November 18, 2017. Twagirayezu says that before his digester, he'd spend up to 3 hours a day gathering 10 kilograms of wood, and saw kids get injured climbing trees and be late to school doing the same. He added he was happy his workload at home was reduced due to being able to use his cow's and pig's poo instead of wood as fuel, as well as about the resulting lessening of deforestation. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Etiene Twagirayezu, 60, lights his biogas digester in his home on November 18, 2017 in Rutabo, Rwanda. Twagirayezu says that before his digester, he'd spend up to 3 hours a day gathering 10 kilograms of wood, and saw kids get injured climbing trees and be late to school doing the same. He added he was happy his workload at home was reduced due to being able to use his cow's and pig's poo instead of wood as fuel, as well as about the resulting lessening of deforestation. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Mwiseneza Winfrid, 62, lights her biogas grill on November 15, 2017, inside her home in the Rulindo District, Rwanda. Winfrid has been a recipient of a biogas digester by a government-financed private company, and says she wishes everybody had access to biogas - not only to drastically reduce cooking time that is otherwise much lengthier when using wood, but also to reduce damage to the environment. She uses the poo discarded from the digester as soil fertilizer. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • The tree line on a hill, as seen on November 15, 2017 in the Rulindo District, Rwanda. Wood gathering causes much of the deforestation and soil erosion in the country. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • A child stands behind a car's stop lights, in near full darkness in the village of Mount Kigali, Rwanda in the evening of November 13, 2017. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Mwiseneza Winfrid, 62, traverses her yard, where she raises cows, pigs and goats, on November 15, 2017 in the Rulindo District, Rwanda. Winfrid has been a recipient of a biogas digester by a government-financed private company, and says she wishes everybody had access to biogas - not only to drastically reduce cooking time that is otherwise much lengthier when using wood, but also to reduce damage to the environment. She uses the poo discarded from the digester as soil fertilizer. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Prisoner of 22 years Gregoire Nsengiyumva, 53, talks about the biogas digester system he helped design (within the cement containers on left and right) at Rwamagana Prison in Rwamagana, Rwanda, on November 18, 2017. All of Rwanda's prisons use their prisoners' waste - in addition to that of cows - to fuel their kitchens via biogas. At Rwamagana, biogas is used to cook corn, and peat cooks rice and beans. Many prisoners say they can usually tell when biogas is used due to the lack of smokey flavor in food. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Prisoners rest in between cooking food via peat and biogas at Rwamagana Prison in Rwamagana, Rwanda, on November 18, 2017. All of Rwanda's prisons use their prisoners' waste - in addition to that of cows - to fuel their kitchens via biogas. At Rwamagana, biogas is used to cook corn, and peat cooks rice and beans. Many prisoners say they can usually tell when biogas is used due to the lack of smokey flavor in food. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Prisoners cook corn at Rwamagana Prison in Rwamagana, Rwanda, on November 18, 2017. All of Rwanda's prisons use their prisoners' waste - in addition to that of cows - to fuel their kitchens via biogas. At Rwamagana, biogas is used to cook corn, and peat cooks rice and beans. Many prisoners say they can usually tell when biogas is used due to the lack of smokey flavor in food. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Prisoners cook food via peat and biogas at Rwamagana Prison in Rwamagana, Rwanda, on November 18, 2017. All of Rwanda's prisons use their prisoners' waste - in addition to that of cows - to fuel their kitchens via biogas. At Rwamagana, biogas is used to cook corn, and peat cooks rice and beans. Many prisoners say they can usually tell when biogas is used due to the lack of smokey flavor in food. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • Cows seen out on pasture on November 18, 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.
  • INTRO
  • Grant Work | Visual Story Editing | Project Management
    • Ezras Nashim - Helping Women
    • Where Women Rule - Widows of Varanasi
    • The Power of Poo
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