Fuel-Efficient Stoves for Guatemala

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

I hope this message finds you well and that your year is off to a wonderful start! I am excited to share a few updates from Guatemala, made possible with your generosity.

Since we were last in touch, we have continued to make progress working directly with rural households to provide more sustainable alternatives for cooking–such that less firewood is needed in the long term. With our partner, APROSARSTUN in the Department of Izabal, we have been using the Chispa stove model which satisfies the priorities of the ‘amas de casa’ in this region. Last year, with your help, EcoLogic and our partner worked to install 68 new stoves and provide the training and capacity-building needed to ensure their proper use and maintenance.

The Chispa stove reduces the consumption of 8,650 kg of firewood per stove per year–or the equivalent of 4 trees. This represents on average a reduction of 55% in firewood consumption. In addition, the more efficient combustion results in a 99% reduction in indoor smoke pollution which has a series of health benefits, including fewer incidences of childhood pneumonia and respiratory infections. And if that wasn’t enough, the stoves also result in family savings given that 70% of Guatemalans purchase firewood for cooking. The reduction in firewood consumption can translate to a savings of 150-300 Quetzales per month (Source: Estufa Chispa Plancha, Impacto).

In addition, I wanted to share that our work with stoves was recognized by the Energy Globe Award as one of the best environmental projects out of more than 2,500 projects submitted!  We are honored by this recognition and salute the other organizations selected in this category that work hard every day to conserve natural resources and improve lives.

Thank you so very much for your support! We truly could not do it without you. I work with these communities, day in and day out. I know how much they appreciate the positive impact you are making in their lives and on their forests through your support of EcoLogic. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with me at mdeleon@ecologic.org.

In solidarity,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Program Officer, Guatemala

Links:

• Energy Globe Award

• Energy Globe Certificate (PDF)
  

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

I hope this message finds you well! I am excited to share a few updates from Guatemala with you.

This year we started a collaboration with StoveTeam International. We are working together to pilot 10 stoves of the Justa Chapina model with the communities we work with in Totonicapán. First, Freddy one of our community project stove-builders got trained and certified on how to build the Justa Chapina model, with special attention to the combustion chamber to ensure optimum fuel efficiency.

Then in August, we moved forward with the construction of the 10 stoves and so far the reviews have been very positive. We are now in the process of conducting a more formal evaluation of the users’ satisfaction and the efficiency achieved in real-world conditions. I will keep you posted on the results!

Thank you so very much for your support! We truly could not do it without you. I work with these communities day in and day out. I know how much they appreciate the positive impact you are making in their lives and on their forests through your support of EcoLogic. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with me at mdeleon@ecologic.org.

In solidarity,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Program Officer, Guatemala

Dear GlobalGiving Supporter,

Thank you so much for your support of our project! We are incredibly grateful. As World Environment Day approaches, we are reminded that there is only one Earth. We are in awe of the wonders our planet provides for us and are continuously made aware of the many ways it is threatened. At EcoLogic, we strive to be agents of change for the conservation and restoration of nature.

Building and installing fuel-efficient stoves in rural homes of Mexico and Central America is one of the ways in which we do that. We recently interviewed Anibal Osorto Pinel, Executive Director of the Honduran Association for Development (AHDESA). AHDESA has been a strategic partner of EcoLogic's fuel-efficient stove program in Honduras since 2018. Anibal explains why more efficient cookstoves are a gamechanger for many rural households. 

What kind of changes can an efficient cookstove bring to the life of a rural family - particularly women?

The high dependence on firewood in Honduras is linked to the high rate of poverty and limited access to cleaner and more efficient technologies. While in other countries perhaps the consumption of firewood is seen as something “romantic” or that dates back to the past, in Honduras the use of firewood is a necessity. 

Having the population stop using firewood for cooking is not achievable in the short or medium term. For this reason, we have to bet on technologies that make use of fuel that is realistic and accessible to the majority of the population, but that use those resources more efficiently and sustainably.

I will share a personal story. In 2002, the doctors did an x-ray on my grandmother's lungs since she was about to have a surgical procedure. After looking at the x-ray, the first thing the doctor asked me was if my grandmother smoked. I had never seen my grandmother with a cigarette in her hands. His second question was: "Does your grandmother cook with firewood?" My answer was affirmative. "That's why she has smoker's lungs" was the doctor's reply.

Consequently, we decided to build an improved stove for my grandmother. My grandmother learned to use it in no time. She had three trees trimmed once a year in her yard, and the firewood from the pruning lasted three months with her Justa improved stove. 

Thanks to the stove, my grandmother lived many more years without the risk of more serious diseases in her lungs due to indoor air pollution from cooking in the house. This story motivated me, even more, to carry on our project and work to reduce firewood consumption and eliminate dangerous smoke from the homes of Latin America.

Can you give us a summary of your experience in the design of fuel-efficient wood stoves?

My experience with stoves began in 1999 when I was a university student. Dr. Larry Winiarski and his collaborators from the Aprovecho Research Center came to Honduras to conduct workshops on wood stoves with rocket combustion chambers and the first improved version of the wood-saving  "Justa" stove model was developed. Once I graduated, I started working for the Honduran Association for Development (AHDESA) on the first projects in the country to improve Justa-type stoves. Over the years, my team and I have made several changes to enhance the efficiency of these models, from changing the dimensions of the “plancha” or griddle to the design of the combustion chamber to the internal direction of the flame to improve heat distribution. We are currently working on the third model of Justa, the "Justa 3D".

What expectations does AHDESA have for the Justa 3D model in 2022 and the future?

The goal is to begin the construction of the new model in the second half of 2022. 1,500 units of Justa 3D will be financed with donations. We also plan to obtain other sources of financing through the carbon credit market with our Category A Justa 3D stove and increase the number of models produced year after year at the national level.

EcoLogic and AHDESA expect to pilot 10 Justa 3D model stoves this year. We will keep you posted!

Thank you for your support! We cannot do it without you!

Barbara Vallarino, Executive Director

Dear GlobalGiving Supporter,

Happy New Year!

With your help, over the last year, we worked hand-in-hand with our local community partners to plant over 120,000 native trees, cultivate another 293,400 seedlings, install 538 fuel-efficient stoves, and establish 44 hectares of sustainable farming. This year we are on track to do even more.

I wanted to share this brief video from one family in Guatemala, whose lives are better because of you. They share: “Really, this is a big help. This is a community that lives in poverty. These projects help us to have livelihood alternatives.”

The majority of rural households in Mexico and Central America use wood-burning stoves to cook their food, which is both detrimental to human health and the environments around them. 

EcoLogic works with local partners and communities to install fuel-efficient wood stoves in Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras to reduce the pressure on standing forests and mangroves and improve the lives of the people with whom we work.

Stay tuned for more updates! I look forward to sharing our progress and the impact your support is having. We are deeply grateful.

In solidarity,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Guatemala Program Officer

Links:

• The Tiul Family: The Impact of a Fuel-Efficient Stove

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

Thank you for your incredible generosity, without which this work would not be possible.

We’ve made a lot of progress over the last few months, since my last update. We delivered 36 fuel-efficient Chispa stoves to the communities of San Juan and Barra Sarstun in the Sarstun Multiple Use Area in Livingston, Guatemala. We will be conducting workshops on their use and maintenance this week!

For the joint project between the Municipality of Totonicapán and EcoLogic, we have carried out 100 socioeconomic diagnoses in different communities of the Municipality. The next step this month is the delivery of materials to each community and a second home visit to supervise the construction of the 100 fuel-efficient stoves.

We have been working with Heidi, a graduate student from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala, to implement some of the stoves and preliminary analysis. She notes: 

“In my experience during home visits to potential beneficiaries, I can really see the interest from families and the willingness to collaborate with the project by contributing their local materials toward the process (block, sand, clay).”

She adds: “After the formal delivery of the stove and recommendations for its use, you can witness the joy of each family in using their fuel-efficient stove. You can see the satisfaction and gratitude toward the organization and the people who make this change possible for the better in their home.”

We received a special request from the Office for the Defense of Indigenous Women in Totonicapán. They requested a fuel-efficient stove for a single mother who has been a victim of domestic violence. She lives with her four children in a very small space, where the same area she uses to sleep is the one she uses to cook. We will be working with them to build a stove that will reduce the smoke and pollution inside their small home, making it safer for all.

Stay tuned for more updates! I look forward to sharing our progress and the impact your support is having. We are deeply grateful.

In solidarity,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Program Officer