Fuel-Efficient Stoves: Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

Thanks to your generosity, families across Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras are transforming their homes, their health, and their forests, one stove at a time. Your support is empowering women leaders, improving family well-being, and protecting the forests that sustain their lives and livelihoods.

Oaxaca, Mexico

Earlier this year, we completed 50 new fuel-efficient stoves, bringing the total to 100 families now cooking safely and sustainably. These stoves reduce smoke inside homes, improve respiratory health, and cut firewood use by half, saving both time and trees.

“Being part of the stove program has been a joy,” shared Doña Olga, a community leader from Vega del Sol. “I personally supervised the delivery of materials to make sure every family received what they needed. Seeing the women in my community happy and confident that they were being supported was deeply satisfying.”

Totonicapán, Guatemala

Between April and July, leaders from ten villages worked with EcoLogic, Stove Team International, and the Council of Natural Resources of the 48 Cantons to help 167 families build their own Justa Chapina stoves. Each family took part in every step, from collecting materials to learning safe use and maintenance, building skills and ownership along the way.

Technical assistance visits ensured quality and safety, while three hands-on workshops helped families learn about stove operation and maintenance through an interactive demonstration model.

Atlántida, Honduras

In northern Honduras, EcoLogic is working hand in hand with local partners to help rural families live more sustainably and protect their forests. This year, with support from MAMUCA, we have built 50 fuel-efficient stoves, allowing women to cook safely while reducing smoke in their homes and reducing firewood use. Building on this success, we’ve signed a new agreement with AHDESA to install 50 additional stoves in 2025, expanding the benefits to even more families.

These efforts are not only improving daily life but also strengthening local leadership, restoring forests, and reaffirming traditional stewardship of natural resources.

Right now, your support matters more than ever. Across Mesoamerica, our local partners and community leaders are ready—materials prepared, families trained, and momentum growing. With your continued help, we can move stove construction forward and reach even more households, supporting women like Doña Olga who are leading change in their communities and building safer, healthier, and more sustainable homes.

Thank you for standing with us—and with the local leaders, women, and families who are shaping a more resilient and hopeful future for both people and forests.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Program Officer, EcoLogic Development Fund

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

Thank you for being part of this journey. Your generosity continues to uplift women leaders, protect forests, and improve food security across Mesoamerica. In 2024 and early 2025, we’ve built a total of 460 fuel-efficient stoves—an achievement made possible by your support. And we’re not stopping there—our goals for the rest of the year are bold and inspiring! We’re proud to share a story that reflects the deep and lasting impact of your commitment, one rooted in resilience, leadership, and tradition.

In the highlands of Totonicapán, Guatemala, where the air is crisp and the pine trees stretch toward the sky, Doña Catarina walks through the rows of her family garden, inspecting the chard, onions, and fava beans that now grow beside her traditional corn.

A single mother from the village of Casa Blanca in the 48 Cantones region, Doña Catarina is a respected leader, a speaker of K’iche’, and a woman who has dedicated more than 15 years to organizing her community. This year, with support from EcoLogic and the Junta Directiva de Bienes y Recursos Naturales de los 48 Cantones, her leadership helped bring agroforestry systems, fuel-efficient stoves, and food security solutions to families in her village.

“I’ve always believed that women have the power to care for the land and lead their communities,” she says. “With each project, we grow stronger.”

In 2024, Doña Catarina helped implement family gardens using native crops, promoted the adoption of Justa Chapina fuel-efficient stoves to reduce firewood use and smoke inhalation, and encouraged other women to participate in agroforestry systems that now blend traditional crops like corn and fava with trees like alder, apple, and peach.

She also played a key role in strengthening women's economic autonomy through local microenterprises and supported younger women in learning to lead. Her ability to weave together tradition, innovation, and community vision exemplifies EcoLogic’s mission: conservation that is led by — and for — the people who depend on the land.

Because of you, women like Doña Catarina are transforming landscapes and lives across Totonicapán. Your support helps preserve native biodiversity, reduce environmental harm, and uplift rural leadership. Thank you for standing with us—and with them—as we build a more sustainable future, one seed, one stove, and one story at a time.

In solidarity,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Guatemala Program Officer