Eco Filters & Safe Stoves for Guatemalan Families

Dear Partners,

We really want to thank you for your donations, in partnering with rural Guatemalan families to improve their homes dramatically, with the eco filters and stoves.

Our first donations are currently being transferred, so the initial investments have been planned. 

The first filters and stoves will be set in two  leaders’ homes to serve as pilots, where other people in the community can experience the products.  This will happen  march 15^th and 16^th. 

The pilots will be set in:

CLARA INES HOUSE: 

she is a 19 year old woman, who was raised and lives with her grandparents in the Village of Despoblado, Jocotan.  Through the Asociacion Ajpatnar Chorti, she was able to complete high school in her village, being the first and only woman from Despoblado to graduate from the local high school.  Clara Ines is also a leader in the Girls Clubs Program, empowering 50 girls in her community.  Clara Ines is also a member of the SEMBRANDO SONRISAS company, that produce the Earth bracelets for the brand Wakami (www.wakamiusa.com) , allowing her to have a source of income and pay for her college studies.  She is a role model in her community, and through the filter and stove in her house a demand will be created from other women.  In this pilot, we are also setting up a rain water collecting unit, an organic garden, and there already exists a solar energy kit in her home, turning it into a great DEMOSTRATION HOME for sustainable products and services that save lives, trees and money!!!

VICTOR HUGO AND ROSA MARIA  HERNANDEZ: 

Victor Hugo is also one of the first graduating from high school in his village, Guapinol, Jocotan.  Together with his wife, they have a 5 year old girl.  Like Clara Ines, he is studying PEDAGOGIA (to become a teacher)  at the Panamerican University. He gets his income from being the leader of the SEMBRANDO SONRISAS (Planting Smiles) COMPANY in Jocotan.  His dream is not only to have a source of income, but to be a change agent in his community, planting trees, setting up waste management programs, and bringing prosperity and happiness to all, therefore, the name for his company!  He was chosen for the pilot because of his enthusiasm and ability to be a change agent.  Victor Hugo will also have a solar energy kit, rain water collection unit and organic garden set in his home.

Both Clara Ines and Victor Hugo have agreed to have their homes open to women interested in seeing the products being used.  Because they are group leaders, gatherings happen in their homes. 

With these pilots, we hope to inform you in our next report, how many filters and stoves were installed in partnership with you!!

Once again, thank you for being part of Wakami Villages, and being part of a process where people of the world come together to create new ways of life!!!   And thank you Global Giving and Agora Partnerships for creating platforms where people can connect!!

We will also be posting progress at our facebook page at Communities of the Earth http://www.facebook.com/pages/Communities-of-the-Earth/196833900406102

MANY THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!

Maria Pacheco

President

Communities of the Earth