Stoves Galore!

I'm back and ready to take on 2010 and my last 10 months of the Peace Corps in Guatemala! To start the new year off right, I'm currently undertaking a large project to fulfill a need for our community of coffee farmers, under the umbrella of the coffee cooperative (CIACEP). It came to our attention via a survey of needs that many of the women involved, either wives of coffee producers or farmers themselves, lacked an appropriate place to prepare food in their home. These women (even though it is 2010, people!) continue to cook food on small fires on the ground prepared before every meal, which fills the kitchen with smoke and leads to frequent burns. This would be bad enough if it were just the women at risk, but it's not that simple. The hazard is compounded if you take into account the fact that women are the primary caregivers to infants and small children, normally carrying at least one on their backs and simultaneously looking after several more while multitasking to prepare the meal. This frequent exposure to smoke and fire, especially damaging at a young age, can permanently stunt pulmonary function and consequently lead to serious respiratory problems, not to mention suffering chronic symptoms like asthma for their entire lives. Respiratory disease is one of the leading causes of death in Guatemala, and this is no coincidence. I've been in the kitchen while someone is cooking from a fire on the ground, it's not pleasant.

The proposed solution, as implemented in the past by Peace Corps' Appropriate Technology program in Guatemala, is a raised cinder block stove that will contain the open flames and smoke that are so dangerous. This "estufa mejorada," or improved stove, has a metal slab on top with burner holes of varying sizes that allow direct contact with the fire while still conserving heat and funneling the smoke through a chimeney in the roof of the house. Most importantly they create a safer, cleaner kitchen and provide the women with a more dignified way of cooking meals for their families.

I'll be administering this project, hopefully building around 45 stoves in the surrounding villages of my community. While I'm applying for a USAID (United States Agency for International Development) grant to fund the project, I'm looking to raise around $2,000 on my own to fully fund the project for all 45 families, each stove costs around $120 to construct. The coffee farmers will be contributing labor and basic materiales, but even the maximum grant amount, if approved by USAID, won't be enough tp provide for all of them. I've attached some photos to help you picture the stoves as well as a link where you can contribute to the cause via Paypal if you're able. I'll admit, they're not glamorous, but they certainly get the job done.





To make a contribution to the Estufas Mejoradas (Improved Stoves) project, please mail checks to:

Rachel Mowry
35 San Marcos
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

All donations will be deposited into a separate project account in the name of the coffee cooperative.

Thanks and Happy New Year!