Photo: andydidyk/iStockphoto

If your reaction to news of atrocities in Darfur, Sudan, is horror mixed with helplessness, it's time to get involved. Many women living in refugee camps have no choice but to put themselves in the path of government-supported militiamen, Janjaweed, as they rape and slaughter their way across the region. "To fuel their traditional cooking fires, women spend as much as seven hours a day foraging for scarce wood, and while they're out searching, they're vulnerable to rape," says Christina Galitsky, an energy analyst at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. "The men can't go instead because the Janjaweed kill them outright. And the women have become so desperate, they're selling their food rations to buy wood." Galitsky worked with her colleague, renowned scientist Ashok Gadgil, to develop a simple stove that reduces the amount of fuel consumed in cooking by up to 75 percent. There are 2.2 million refugees in Darfur who need about 300,000 stoves; for $30 you can donate one to a woman and help keep her and her family safe.