Tu’ik Ruch’ Lew is Celebrating Success!
In 2022, all of TRL's proud recipients have been successful using and maintaining their improved
energy-efficient cook stoves. But this isn't the case with all cook stove projects. The reason is that
most stove projects focus on the number of stoves installed and pay little attention to whether the
stove recipients understand how to successfully use and maintain their new stove.
When abandoned and broken stoves are tossed aside, clean cook stove projects get a bad reputation—why many stove projects are not being supported in developing countries. And yet, using a clean cook stove is one of the most effective ways to protect the respiratory health of women and their families; reduce firewood use by 70%, which improves family economies while saving trees on the hillsides; and eliminate 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering our atmosphere each year they are used.
Here's an example of the problem. In a recent project in a village on the shores of Lake Atitlan, more than 80 stoves, identical to those installed by TRL, were donated by a large international organization. The members of the organization visited for a few days, dropping off the stoves in the homes of local families. As one of the visitors reported: “The Maya people were all smiles, even though we couldn’t communicate a word because we didn’t speak the same language.” He returned home feeling satisfied that he had done a charitable act. But the language barrier meant there was no in-depth instruction as to how to use the stoves and no follow-up to make sure they were being used and maintained successfully. Many of the stoves were abandoned or chopped apart, with only the metal stove top remaining, and the rest being sold. Unfortunately, this sad story is repeated all around the world with the result that cook stove projects are not that popular among large donors.
This is why we at TRL are celebrating! Using constant feedback from our community, we have
perfected our stove adoption education process, which includes an initial orientation and follow-up with our recipients during the first installation year. This year, we reached 100% successful adoption of all stoves installed. During our visitation program, we found that every installed stove has been fully functioning and cherished by its owners! Yes, it has taken TRL some time to achieve this goal, but with community confidence in TRL’s team, our message has been heard and assimilated by our stove owners, empowering them to feel good about how they are using their stoves, not only to benefit their families, but also to Help the Earth, in Tz’utujil dialect,Tu’ik Ruch Lew.
Your support is what makes all of this possible! Please share our pride in the important results, for people and the planet, that your donations have accomplished.
Gratefully, Candis Krummel
Stay tuned for our next report when we will focus upon our process.
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This year has been very good to us here at Tu'ik Ruch' Lew (TRL). Our clean cookstove project has continued to progress. Although COVID-19 is still with us, most restrictions have been either reduced or lifted. The TRL team has been meeting with potential beneficiaries again and stove installation is moving forward at a rapid pace. We have installed 97 stoves since February 2022.
To meet the increasing demand for stoves, a new Technical Adaptation Specialist (TAS) has joined the TRL team, and, occasionally, our accountant volunteers to help with installations. We’re proud that the members of our staff will pitch in wherever they are most needed. TRL received a grant for 162 stoves this year, so having a four-person team for installations, rather than a two-person team, has been extremely helpful. We are already more than halfway toward meeting our installation goal.
If you’ve been following our GlobalGiving updates, you will know that typically, when the rains begin in May, interest in clean cookstoves drops off. This is the time of year when families need to save their money to buy food—the next harvest won’t be in until August. However, this year, the demand for stoves has continued, and even grown. Families are finding that having an efficient, clean cookstove helps them save money. The cookstove uses 70% less firewood than the traditional three-stone fire still being used in most Tz’utujil Maya homes around Santiago Atitlan. Reportedly in the double-digits, inflation has hit Guatemala hard.
There have been some bumps in the road. A problem with the quality of a recent batch of stoves raised concerns about the manufacturing process. Isabel, our TAS, hitched a ride to the stove factory, when we sent a truck to pick up 40 stoves. She wanted to see if she could figure out what was causing the problem. While the truck was being loaded, Isa talked with the men who make the stoves. The men were surprised, but pleased, that someone was so interested in what they do. We believe that the problem lies with not letting the cement completely dry. And in the rainy season, that means a delay in delivery. We’re having a similar delay with our hand-made replacement combustion chambers…this exceptionally wet and long rainy season has made it nearly impossible to produce the clay pieces, which must be dried in the sun before being fired.
Without your continuing support, none of our success would be possible. We send you wishes for a lovely Autumn along with our heartfelt thanks!
Warm Regards,
The TRL Team
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Itching to finally get out of my town in the USA, I schedule a two-week trip to Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, to spend some time with the TRLearth.org Team. After many months of COVID shutdown in Guatemala, the Team has finally been able to get out to visit potential clients and to install and repair clean cookstoves. They have set the goal of installing 162 stoves this year, and thanks to the support of donors, they are well on their way.
I visited the TRL office, met the Team members, and went on an actual installation. On another day, I traveled with the Team to a neighboring village, San Pedro La Laguna, a 20-minute boat ride across beautiful Lake Atitlan. There, TRL had scheduled an orientation with eight Tz’utujil Maya women who were interested in finding out more about the cookstove project and the “do’s and don’ts“ when using one of these unique stoves.
During the orientation, Isabel, the Technical Adaptation Specialist (TAS), gave a thorough presentation with plenty of time to answer many questions. She explained that families who decide to get a clean cookstove are participating in an environmental project to "take climate action now." The cookstove will immediately improve their air quality, reduce the amount of firewood they need, and help save the region’s forests, but only if they commit to use it in the way that is was carefully designed to be used. Sometimes people mistakenly think that they are "buying the stove" and can do whatever they want with it...including chopping open the front so that they can continue to burn big logs!
After the presentation, all eight women wanted to have a stove. Thanks to donor support, TRL can provide these cookstoves at a greatly reduced price. The Team had just enough time that afternoon to visit the homes of four of the families; they installed those stoves the following Monday. By now, the stoves requested by the other four families have also been installed.
I've also been informed that on the first follow-up visits after installation, every stove is being used properly and greatly appreciated by the new owners. This continual follow-up is what sets TRL apart from other stove projects, where the stoves are just dropped off and never visited again.
If you are also itching to get away, I recommend you consider a trip to Santiago Atitlan. The Team encourages TRL donors and other interested visitors to Guatemala to come out to the Lake and go on a "clean cookstove tour." I can't begin to tell you how fascinating it is to see first hand the important work TRLearth.org is doing.They are truly taking Climate Action Now!
When Andrea got married, as is the Tz’utujil custom, she went to live with the family of her husband. In this household, the family uses an improved ONIL cookstove which Tui’k Ruch’Lew had installed some years ago. Andrea had never seen one of these stoves and she was delighted with its efficiency, cleanliness and tremendous savings on firewood - not to mention no toxic smoke in her face, from which she had suffered over the open fire hearth, in the house where she grew up.
After the birth of their first child, it was time for Andrea and her husband to make their own kitchen. Andrea wanted an ONIL stove but her husband said they would have to wait until they saved the necessary money to pay their part of the stove costs - each recipient in TRL’s stove program makes a small donation towards their stove as a demonstration of their commitment to care for and maintain it. Andrea had noticed a practically new but abandoned ONIL stove in the yard of a neighbor - originally dropped off by a well-intentioned charitable group who never explained how to use the stove nor followed up on the installation. The family never really used it. Andrea acquired the remains of the stove.
Thrilled with her find, Andrea called Tui’k Ruch’Lew to ask for our help in restoring the stove, which we were glad to do. For a small investment in stove parts, she acquired her ONIL stove. Today Andrea is still using the renovated ONIL stove and carefully maintains it in good working condition. It may look old on the outside, but the innovative design, which cuts consumption of firewood by nearly 70% and almost entirely reduces harmful CO2 emissions and black carbon, is still intact and functioning perfectly. That discarded stove was a treasure in Andrea’s eyes and it is now enrolled in TRL’s project, where we visit the stove each year to ensure its continued successful functioning - part of monitoring every stove in our project.
Your donations to Tui’k Ruch’ Lew’s project “Protect Guatemala Forests with Clean Cookstoves” not only improves the health and economy of a family, but it also saves the trees on our mountains. Scientists tell us that protecting native forests which provide a carbon sink is one of the most efficient ways to reduce CO2 in our atmosphere. Our stove project not only saves those forests but reduces the amount of CO2 which is released by cooking over an open fire, by three tons in just the first year of stove use. You are taking DIRECT CLIMATE ACTION when you support TRL’s Clean Stove project!
Your donations are helping families like Andreas'. And by spreading the word, you can continue to support us.
We wish you a wonderful day.
The team of Tui'k Ruch'Lew
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Meet Jesus Santizo Xeche De Sosof
On the 25th of August, we installed a cookstove in San Antonio Chacaya -- one of the poorest villages in Santiago Atitlan. Jesus lives with her sick mother in a tiny room -- not larger than 4x3 meters. The main room is made from cement bricks while the kitchen is half outside with a dirt floor and walls made from corrugated sheet metal. Every day, Jesus cooks the meals on the ground (see typical kitchen setup).
Since her economic situation does not allow her to buy dry firewood, Jesus depends on the wood that her brother Francisco transports down from the mountain every day. During the rainy season, the wood is so wet that it burns at low temperature and is therefore energy inefficient. Moreover, burning wet wood creates a lot of smoke and steam (see video of Jesus’s kitchen).
Using wet wood in an open fire situation is also unhealthy because it releases pollutants into the air (e.g., nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide) and particles (e.g., particulate matter and black carbon). If that weren't enough of a health hazard, burning wet wood releases huge amounts of creosote -- carcinogenic deposits that cause skin and eye irritations, minor chemical burns, and, if inhaled, respiratory infections and even cancer through prolonged exposure (see wall full of creosote).
We feel for people like Jesus. The installation of this energy-efficient cookstove was realized through your donations. Our outreach team -- Jose and Maria -- were very pleased to be able to install the stove for Jesus and her mother (see installation). Because we accompany all installations with our education program, Maria could explain the health risks associated with burning wet wood (see image of environmental talk). Jesus and her brother, who was passing by to bring more firewood, did not know about these health risks, but could directly link their mother's illness to the way they had been cooking for many, many years. To reduce the health risks from using wet wood, Maria suggested creating space in the covered area to dry the wood for as long as possible before burning it in the stove.
Thanks to the new energy-efficient stove, Jesus will need to use much less firewood when preparing food for her family. For Jesus, this is an enormous relief -- timewise and financially. The new stove is restoring her dignity while making important health improvements for her entire family.
Please accept our thanks.Your donations are helping families like this. And by spreading the word, you can continue to support us.
We wish you a wonderful day,
Jessica and the Tui’k Ruch’Lew team
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