GlobalGiving.org: Construct 150 fuel-efficient stoves in Guatemala

Stove Study

Rebecca Oliver — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:22:19 GMT

Guatemalan stove

We, at EcoLogic, are consistently evaluating our programs to improve our work and increase our impact. To that end, we recently partnered with a University in Honduras to run conduct a systematic assessment of our fuel-efficient stove program.

The assessment is being run by the Zamorano Institute’s Improved Stove Certification Center in Honduras. Working jointly with EcoLogic field staff and community members, the Institute is leading the process of collecting data from households in Guatemala and Honduras, including whether and how often families use their fuel-efficient stoves as well as their overall satisfaction with having a fuel-efficient stove in their home. In addition, the stoves are being run through a gamut of tests in a controlled environment that will measure how much smoke is produced, how much wood is used, and the energy input output ratio of each stove. Finally, the stoves will be compared to others used in the region. The stove impact assessment will conclude shortly and we look forward to sharing the results with you soon!

Find out what it's like to build a stove

Rebecca Oliver — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:16:24 GMT

This past summer EcoLogic Program Officer Chris Patterson helped construct fuel-efficient stoves in some of the most remote areas of Guatemala. He shares his experience below:

"Greetings from Livingston, Guatemala. I’m out here this week visiting our project with APROSARSTUN, our partner in the region. It’s way out here on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast. The area is incredibly humid, and the main mode of transportation is boat and canoe. Livingston is a somewhat popular tourist destination, but outside of the tourist center, the rural communities are very remote, very small, and quite underserved. For example, the President of APROSARSTUN, Martin, is from a village of 15 families. José Domingo, EcoLogic’s project técnico is from a community of 35 families. Each of these communities are part of our project. More than any other EcoLogic project I’ve seen, this one is reaching people way WAY off the beaten path. To me, it’s really inspiring.

This week, I worked in Barra Sarstún—a fishing village on the edge of the Sarstún River—where 33 fuel-efficient stoves are being constructed. José Domingo, Martín, and I were there to watch/help the first one get built. It was awesome watching the process from the very first brick. I’ve seen so many that are completed and always wondered what it took to build one.

In EcoLogic's projects, stove recipients are chosen based on their participation in the project and willingness to help build their stove. In Barra Sarstún, recipients are members of the Barra Sarstún Fisherfolk Committee, which is the group we work with to develop sustainable fishing practices in the region. The fishermen involved in the committee understand the need to conserve and care for the environment which provides them with their livelihoods (fish!), and are therefore excited to participate in projects which help advance conservation.

Here’s what you need to build a fuel-efficient stove: cinder blocks, bricks, cement, sand, water, clay/mud (filler in the base of the stove), an aluminum chimney, tools (a shovel, machete and trowel), and about four hours. And you need to know what you’re doing which is why we hire two men that have built many of our stoves. EcoLogic’s fuel-efficient stove program takes a holistic approach that connects the dots between a family's well-being and that of nature. I feel really lucky that I helped construct a stove this week – I just wish I could stick around and eat some yummy fish from it!"

Please visit Facebook to see a photo album of how a stove is constructed.

Links:

See photos of our work in Guatemala.

Your support is changing lives!

Rebecca Oliver — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:16:28 GMT

Serbelia using on a open-pit fire.

In August, 2009, EcoLogic posted to Global Giving our project to construct 150 fuel-efficient stoves in Guatemala. Now, two years later your support is still helping families and conserving precious natural resources. On a recent trip to Guatemala, EcoLogic’s field staff met with a recipient of a fuel-efficient stove. Here is her story:

“My name is Serbelia Grave Caal. I am Maya Q’eqchi’. I have 10 children. In 2010 I was the beneficiary of an EcoLogic fuel-efficient stove. I contributed 2 bags of sand, 20 bricks, 2 bags of clay, and my time in assisting the mason to build the stove. I also committed to establishing an agroforestry plot. The trees in my plot will help provide the firewood for cooking. I do not have to go into the forest as much to look for fuel.

When the stove was built EcoLogic field staff told us that we would save a lot of wood. At first I did not believe them, but then I realized the truth and the stove has really changed a lot of things in my life. We cut down fewer trees for firewood and the children have more time to study. My family does not get eye and lung infections like they used to when there was smoke in the kitchen, I have experienced fewer burns, and I no longer suffer from back pain because the stove is a suitable height for cooking. Before, when I cooked on the ground on an open-pit fire I used 4 bundles of wood a week. Now, with my new stove, I only need 1/3 of what I used to and there is no need for thick logs. I am very happy with my stove and it is really helping me. I wish that all families had an EcoLogic stove like me, so we would all be helping to conserve the forest and live healthier lives.”

Serbelia's life has changed for the better due to your support. Today, I invite you to continue making a difference with a gift that can help families like Serbelia's conserve nature and improve their lives.

On behalf of Serbelia and all of us here at EcoLogic, thank you!

Serbelia using her new fuel-efficient stove.

Links:

2011 Ambassador Project

Cristina's story

Rebecca Oliver — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:42:53 GMT

Cristina and her family.

Cristina Martelín lives in Guatemala, is an active community member of Chuixtun, and a mother of four. She also makes a mean tamale.

Last year Cristina received a fuel-efficient stove from EcoLogic – she loves it and so do her kids. Cristina’s favorite food to cook using the stoves is tamales.

“My kids love them. I can cook so much more with the stove in much less time than before,” said Cristina.

Cristina estimates that she uses about half the wood she used to when using her old open pit fire stove and reports the kids are happier with less smoke inside the house. Her neighbor Doña Antonia loves the tile stovetop and her husband recently reforested trees as a voluntary in exchange for the stove.

Your support has directly improved the lives of Cristina, Antonia, and their families.

Thank you!

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our eNews to receive important monthly updates on EcoLogic's projects and information on ways to get involved!

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Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!

Rebecca Oliver — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:35:23 GMT

Fuel-Efficient Wood Burning Stove

February is the month of love and friendship around the world. What better way is there to show appreciation for your community than to help build your neighbor's stove, and they in return help you construct yours. This is the underlying principle of the stove program in Guatemala - to learn from your neighbor and pay it forward.

EcoLogic conducts workshops for women educating them on how to build a stove and its proper maintenance. Once these women have attended the workshops they graduate to construction. In groups of 8-10, they go from home to home building their neighbors stove, realizing the importance working with each other and the community.

This philosophy is what has made EcoLogic's stove program in Guatemala so successful. Ensuring every family that wants to better their lives and protect their health, can.

In the last 12 months alone, due to your generous support, over 150 families were trained in construction, use, and management of the stoves. This led to the construction of over 150 stoves in 13 communities. The beneficiaries of these stoves, specifically women and children, can now breathe more freely in their homes without fear of illness or respiratory disease. Children can go to school more regularly knowing that the fire wood they have collected will last twice as long with the new stove. In addition, these 150 families are participating in the reforestation of 4,500 trees.

Help us keep the momentum going!

While our progress is steady, we are only a quarter of the way to meeting our goal. In the spirit of love and friendship, you, your friends, and family can help us continue our work putting clean stoves in homes throughout rural Guatemala helping build safer, cleaner communities.

p.s. Don't forget to sign up for our eNews to receive important monthly updates on EcoLogic's projects and information on ways to get involved!

Little girl making a stove, like her mother.

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What are you thankful for?

Gina Rindfleish — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:51:52 GMT

Photo Credit: Sebastián Charchalac Santay

Here at EcoLogic, we are thankful for you and the many supporters that have helped us make our fuel-efficient stove program possible. Because of supporters like you, we have been able to expand our program from Guatemala into Honduras. By the end of the year we will have made over 50 new stoves!

When EcoLogic’s fuel-efficient stoves are used in homes, they not only conserve the environment but improve the health of the community. Fuel-efficient stoves decrease the amount of deadly fumes that women and children breathe inside the home and conserve fragile ecosystems by protecting forests. There is a 60% reduction in fuel-wood consumption when using our fuel-efficient stoves. These families are also making a better life for themselves and protecting their land for their children.

During this season of giving, join EcoLogic's efforts by inviting your friends to make a gift. Now and through the end of the year, all new donations will be matched! A generous donor has pledged to match dollar-for-dollar gifts made through the end of the year from all new donors.

On behalf of EcoLogic and the people we work with, thank you for your willingness to make a difference and thank you for helping us share our important work with others.

Photo Credit: Dave Kramer

Links:

Check out this exciting update from EcoLogic!

Gina Rindfleisch — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:15:18 GMT

There has been tremendous progress with our work since we last reported to you on EcoLogic’s fuel-efficient stove project in Guatemala. I am very happy to inform - thanks in part to your contribution - that EcoLogic has built an additional 65 fuel-efficient stoves since the last update we sent this past May.

Thank you! Thank you! And…Thank you!

As you may remember from our last progress report, EcoLogic expanded its fuel-efficient stove program to include the region of Sarstún, Guatemala. Together with our partners, the Maya Association for the Rural Wellbeing of the Sarstún Region (APROSARSTUN) and the local Fisherfolk Association, we completed construction of 42 wood-saving stoves in three remote villages (accessible only by boat) along the Sarstún River in the first quarter of the year. Because the demand for these stoves in this area was (and is) overwhelmingly high, we assisted our partner, APROSARSTUN, in successfully raising additional funds to build another 35 stoves! Now, 77 families are benefitting from a healthier lifestyle. Plus, there is less demand for firewood, alleviating the strain on surrounding forests.

In Totonicapán Guatemala, EcoLogic’s partner, The Association of the 48 Cantons, selected 30 families most in need of an EcoLogic fuel-efficient stove. These families received training on the construction and maintenance of the stoves and recently completed the installation of all 30 stoves. As part of EcoLogic’s approach, the recipients of a stove agree to plant and maintain trees as part of an overall reforestation effort and the participating families were given 100 native tree species of red and white pine to help reforest the adjoining 52,000-acre old-growth community forest. In the near term, EcoLogic plans to build another 18 stoves in Totonicapán. By the end of the year, families will be planting and tending a total of 4,800 trees.

Thanks so much for making this work possible. However, we still need to raise an additional $15,605! We have plans to construct 18 more fuel-efficient stoves in Totonicapán and another 75 in Huehuetenango in the next few months in villages located in hard-to-reach, rugged terrain. Please consider helping us meet this goal by passing this information along to your friends and urging them to support this work. Please stay tuned for more updates on our stove program…

5.18.10 Update

Gina Rindfleisch — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:49:26 GMT

EcoLogic Fuel-efficient stove recipient

EcoLogic cannot thank you enough for your support in helpig us make our fuel-efficient stove program a reality. Together we have raised $4,300 from 80 individuals who share our concern for the environment and for the well-being of rural communities living in poverty in Guatemala.

Because of the success of our stove project in Totonicapán and Huehuetenango, Guatemala, EcoLogic has expanded its stove program to include the work we do with our partner in the region of Sarstún. And, this year, EcoLogic has already completed the construction of 42 stoves in the Sarstún region of Guatemala with our partner, the Mayan Association of Rural Wellbeing (APROSARSTUN).

APROSARSTUN is a Guatemalan nonprofit comprised of local students from a school run by Ak' Tenamit ("New Village") who are trained in community development and sustainable tourism. Through this partnership, EcoLogic is building APROSARSTUN's ability to successfully protect forests and watersheds and contribute to better land management in the entire binational protected area.

Later this month we will be begin construction on an additional 50 stoves in Totonicapán with our partner, the Association of 48 Cantons (Consejo de Alcaldes de los 48 Cantones) and 40 in Huehuetenango with our partner, the Mancomunidad (Mancomunidad de Municipios Frontera del Norte).

High poverty levels and growth coupled with traditional subsistence practices puts immense pressure natural resources. The forests of Guatemala are witness to excessive felling, the expansion of agriculture, forest management practices. Rural are dependent upon wood and use fires to cook their food and heat their It is well-known that this results in of indoor air pollution causing a number health issues like, acute respiratory chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, and eye diseases.

Despite our progress and our success we still have a ways to go to reach our goal of $20,000. Please help us build awareness of EcoLogic's fuel-efficient stove program by passing this on to your friends and family - THANK YOU!

With your help we can make a a difference one family at a time, one community at a time.

Fuel-efficient stove

Fuel-Efficient Stove update!

Gina Rindfleisch — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:52:04 GMT

Thanks to everyone for supporting our fuel-efficient stove project in Guatemala! So far, we have raised $4,190 through Global Giving.

Currently, EcoLogic is working with the Northern Border Municipalities Alliance, a group of five municipalities in northwestern Guatemala. In the community of Santa Maria Dolores in Ixcán, EcoLogic worked with the community to identify 48 families each of which has received the tools to build fuel-efficient stoves. The families were chosen because of their strong commitment to protecting forests and water. By using fuel-efficient stoves that reduce firewood use, these families are collectively saving over 575 trees and protecting over 2.75 acres of forest every year.

Trees are not only saved by the use of the stoves, but in addition, each family agreed to establish an agroforestry plot nearly half an acre in size. Agroforestry is an agricultural method which integrates trees and shrubs alongside crops. This in turn reduces soil erosion, provides a source of organic fertilizer from fallen leaves, maintains a healthy climate for crops, and creates a habitat for local pollinators. By creating these plots, these families provide themselves with firewood from trimming the branches of the trees and shrubs. In addition, agroforestry increases the yield of crops such as basic grains. Moreover, the natural benefits of trees reduce the time and labor required of farmers, freeing them to spend more time with their families and communities.

Alba Urizar, a recipient of a stove explained that at first, the community was able to get firewood from trees that grew right outside of their homes. Now, because they have cleared so much land, they walk for more than a half hour to get firewood. She also said that the traditional stoves “used a lot of firewood, the smoke is hurtful for the children and adults, and the women burned their hands when cooking.” Thanks to her new stove, Alba feels a renewed sense of energy in her life because she no longer breathes in harmful smoke or burns her hands.

It is rewarding to see the effects that fuel-efficient stoves are having not only on individual families but the community as a whole. We are excited to continue expanding the stove program in Santa Maria Dolores and in other areas as well. Thank you for making this work possible!

Update on the progress of the project

Gina — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:42:09 GMT

Once again, thanks to everyone who has supported EcoLogic’s fuel-efficient stove project in Guatemala! However, we still need your help in meeting our goal of $20,000. To date, we have been able to raise $3,855 through Global Giving but still have a ways to go.

Within the forest of Totonicapán, EcoLogic has started the process of selecting the communities that will receive a stove package, roughly 50 stoves per community. Our approach has been to look for key villages where neighboring areas can observe and understand the necessity of cleaner burning stoves for improving health and aiding environmental conservation. The work that has been accomplished thus far, has been in identifying those communities and the families that are willing to directly participate in stove construction, do not already possess a formal stove, and have arranged for impartial distribution of the materials to participating women.

At our home office, we have been able to secure a one-time $25,000 match to build an additional 200 stoves in Guatemala, bringing much needed relief to the families who suffer needlessly from smoke inhalation while having a greater impact on the region.

We look forward to the next phase in this process which involves securing the materials needed to build the stoves and transporting them to the selected areas. We will also be conducting workshops to train communities on stove construction and educating the women on the health and environmental benefits of fuel efficient stoves.

Did you know that, for every 10 families that receive a stove, 120 trees are preserved, saving more than .6 acres of forest per year?