In Congo, elderly craft clean fuel pellets to keep active
DJAFFAR AL KATANTY AT 62 years old and recently retired from a government job, Bavon Mubake has found a new calling in making fuel pellets, which earns him money while helping conserve the precious forests of eastern Congo. Mubake collects waste including cardboard as well as maize stalks and leaves. He soaks the mixture, then dries and grinds it into a powder which he mixes with carbonized sawdust and presses into briquettes that can be burnt safely as cooking fuel. "This work helps me to educate my children, to have food on the table, and also to have enough to…