This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Development Report.
In many developing countries, it is difficult to keep food cool.Most areas do not have electricity to operate devices to keep foodcold, called refrigerators. Food often spoils, or becomes unsafe toeat within days. This can cause diseases and loss of money forfarmers. However, in Nigeria, one man is working to change this.
Mohammed Bah Abba, a teacher, invented a cooling device using tworound containers made of clay. Mister Abba’s invention is called aPot-in-Pot Preservation Cooling System. A small pot is placed insidea larger one. The space between the two pots is filled with wetsand. The inner pot can be filled with fruit, vegetables or drinks.A wet cloth covers the whole cooling system. The device keeps somefoods fresh for several weeks.
Food stored in the small pot iskept from spoiling through a simple evaporation process. Water inthe sand between the two pots evaporates through the surface of thelarger pot where drier outside air is moving. The evaporationprocess creates a drop in temperature of several degrees. This coolsthe inner container and helps destroy harmful bacteria found infood.
Mister Abba started producing his cooling device innineteen-ninety-seven. Since then, he has given more thantwelve-thousand devices to people in villages in Nigeria. Heestimates that within five years, people all over the country willbe using his invention. Mister Abba also hopes to export hisPot-in-Pot cooling system to other hot, dry nations facing similarproblems.
The Rolex Watch Company ofSwitzerland has also recognized the value of this cooling system.Two years ago, Mister Abba received the Rolex Award for Enterprise.This award is given every two years. It awards people trying todevelop projects aimed at improving human knowledge and well-being.Winners receive financial assistance to help develop and extendtheir projects. An international committee considers projects inscience and medicine, technology, exploration and discovery, theenvironment and cultural history.
You can learn more about the Rolex Awards for Enterprise on theInternet Web site, w-w-w-dot-rolexawards-dot-com. Or you can writeto the Rolex awards committee at P-O-Box one-three-one-one,one-two-one-one Geneva, twenty-six, Switzerland.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.