Keren!!Keren!!Keren!! I often hear women yell these words when visiting local villages. In the Java language “keren” is a stove that is made from clay. Usually they sell this product from one village to another village using bicycles. Amazingly these women are able to bring so many stoves on a single bike. Often they walk barefoot and push the bike full of stoves
Today most people here do not cook using clay stoves anymore because we cook with gas stoves. However, in villages we still find lots of families that cook using traditional stoves. Many of them are afraid to cook with gas stoves because they have heard and watched news about gas stove explosions. Explosions happen when people do not know how to use gas stoves correctly or because the stoves are not very good quality.
Cooking with clay stoves has positive and negative sides. When you cook in a clay stove because you use wood theres lots of black smoke, which causes pollution and makes your kitchen walls and roof black. But lots of people here say that when you cook with a clay stove your cooking is more delicious because it has special flavor and smells.
Last week I visited our womens group in Pundong village. This village is located about one hour from the city and I met Mrs. Tumirah and her family. She and her sister make traditional cooking tools from clay and they also make traditional stoves and grinders.
They make around 50 stoves a week. After shaping them they dry them under the hot sun. Then they burn wood in them for many hours. When its ready, they still need to bring this product to the market or to villages to sell them. The price depends on the size: small, medium or large, which cost from $0.5 up to $1.5.
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