Climate Action Guatemala Project #2703

Fuel-Efficient Stoves: Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

by EcoLogic Development Fund

Fuel-Efficient Stoves: Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Project Report | Jun 8, 2021
Update from Totonicapan, Guatemala

By Mario Ardany de Leon | Guatemala Program Officer

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

I am so grateful to you for your commitment and support! Thank you. I wanted to provide an update on our work with fuel-efficient stoves in Totonicapan. Since my last update, we have completed 30 and are working on another 80!

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 of the process in the community of Pasajoc:

“The beneficiary families currently cook on the ground making use of blocks, stones, and pieces of iron to support their cooking utensils. This translates into excessive use of firewood, heavy economic expenses for the families, burning accidents--especially in children, and health problems due to the effect of smoke, ash, and dust.

The beneficiary families were pre-selected by the community authorities of the Canton Pasajoc. Subsequently, home visits were carried out to determine the needs presented by the families. The visits to the families were coordinated and accompanied by the community authorities. With each family, we conducted direct dialogue and completed a survey sheet to respond correctly to the need and context. Many of the women reported frequent headaches and eye inflammation from the smoke.

The use of a wood-saving stove will contribute greatly to the families, mainly in reducing firewood. If the use of firewood is reduced, the felling of trees also reduces, favoring the conservation of the communal forest and its water springs. Through the implementation of the project, accompanied by a training process, a degree of awareness in relation to the care and conservation of the environment is also achieved with the beneficiary families.”

We also recently launched the reforestation campaign in Totonicapan. From May to September, over 120,000 seedlings will be planted in degraded areas of the forest by community groups and village committees.

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

Cooking before a fuel-efficient stove

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Feb 8, 2021
Dona Juana: "Bless You, Wherever You Are and Wherever You Go"

By Mario Ardany de Leon | EcoLogic Program Officer, Guatemala

Oct 9, 2020
Implementation of Stoves in Times of Pandemic

By Mario Ardany de Leon | EcoLogic Program Officer, Guatemala

Old way of cooking with open flame

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

First of all, I hope you and your loved ones are doing well and staying healthy!

Thank you so much for your support of our project. As I wrote to you in my last update, in March, the government of Guatemala restricted all kinds of social and organizational activities due to the entry of COVID 19 into the country. Our partner organization in Totonicapán, 48 Cantons, also began to restrict access to each of the communities to protect the population.

At that time, two of the communities where we work, Chiyax and Chuixchimal, began a process of raising awareness among their inhabitants about protective measures against the virus, such as the correct use of the face mask, hand-washing, and keeping social distancing.

More recently, in the month of September, restrictions were reduced and we were able to move forward with the process of preparing socioeconomic baselines to identify the beneficiaries of new fuel-efficient stoves. Currently, 34 households from the two communities have been selected. Each one will contribute local materials as part of their in-kind investment (21 blocks, 2 sacks of ground clay, 2 sacks of sand, and labor to help with construction). Today we will deliver the materials for the 34 stoves, including the metal stove-top and chimney. Families are collecting local materials and we expect construction will begin in mid-October.

I recently spoke with Doña Hilda, from the community of Chuixchimal. She is a single mother and has the dream that with her new stove she can reduce her need for firewood and use those savings to buy food for the nutrition of her children and to invest in their education.

I look forward to keeping you updated on the incredible change you are making possible in peoples’ lives, their health, their livelihoods, and their forests. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

In solidarity,

Mario Ardany de Leon, Program Officer

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