STOVES FOR GUATEMALA

 

First United Methodist Mission Group

David Kimble, Executive Director, Trees for Life with Bonnie Laycock (center) Director of Missions and Outreach, First United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kansas, and committee members Carolyn Vosberg (l) Lisa Guinn, Trudee Little, and Peggy Brant (r).

Bonnie and members of the Missions group were visiting TFL to tell of their experience in building three stoves in a rural village in Guatemala. They used the building plans that were provided by Trees for Life. Following a philosophy of participation and partnership the Mission group from the First United Methodist Church plans on returning to Guatemala to assist in building additional stoves. The selected families will raise their portion of the funds with the mission program providing the remaining funding. To assist the local community the stoves are constructed using local labor and materials.

 

Open Cooking Stove

  The new stoves are such an improvement over the open fires of the past. No need to worry about the children falling into the fire and the house is no longer filled with smoke. In homes using traditional open cooking fires the incidence of severe respiratory illness, especially among women, the main cooks, is very high and a major health concern. It takes only 3 to 4 sticks of wood to cook a meal instead of 12 to 15. Following are the basic construction steps used in construction of the highly efficient stove.

Steps in Stove Building

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

A Gift of Cookstoves to Jalapa, Guatemala

 

Eric Woratschka of Springfield, IL, met Tom Benevento, former Trees for Life volunteer, in Guatemala in 2007 while on a sister church mission trip. Tom, over the last 10 years, has facilitated the building of fuel-efficient cookstoves in Guatemala. Eric saw how these cookstoves, by providing a smoke-free and safer method of cooking, improved the health of women and children. The stoves also use less fuel, resulting in fewer trees being cut down.

Eric wanted to help the families at his sister church, in the Jalapa district of southeastern Guatemala, build these stoves. So when he returned to the United States, he shared this story with friends.

Now, with resources provided by Eric and Trees for Life, Tom Benevento is working with Padre Maxamiliano, coordinator of the Jalapa project, training villagers on constructing cookstoves in Jalapa.

Newly constructed fuel-efficient stove

Guatemalan family standing in front of their cook stove

 

 Give the gift of a cookstove.