Hi there,
Ok, I really suck with these updates. It's amazing how time flies by so quickly. I can't believe it's the end of November, and the last time I posted anything was the end of September. What it means is that I'm having a great time here in Nebaj and have been busy with a lot of field work and have been struggling with where to start in terms of how to share my latest learnings.
So, yes, you're getting part 2 of the estufa (stove) project update, and I will also update with part 1. Really. I mean it - this time. =) One note - looks like pics are posted in reverse chronological order so the one at the top is the last photo referenced in the blog post.
First of all, I decided to extend my time here in Guatemala. I've almost completed three months here, so I'm planning to stay here through end of February rather than end of December. Also, good news is that I will be flying home for Christmas. Yay!
I've really enjoyed the field work here in Nebaj. I wanted to focus on learning about the MicroConsignment Model: its implementation - how the asesoras work, future expansion - how we find new regions and train new asesoras, challenges to the model, etc. I've really been fortunate to be able to learn about all of these things. I've been partnering closely with Ricardo, our regional coordinator in Quiche and he's a really great person who is passionate about the SolCom objectives. He's really great at training the ladies to be asesoras.
Anyway, we have two projects that I'm really excited about and I felt I needed to be here longer to see them through.
1. the Estufa project - We offer a product called estufas mejoradas (improved stoves). It addresses the problem that many families still cook on open flames in their homes. It produces a lot of smoke in the house which causes respiratory problems and eye irritation. Also, there are more accidental burns when the kids are playing around the house. A year ago, our team went on a campaign to some remote rural areas and introduced the basket of goods we offer including the stoves. The community, Rio Azul, was really interested in the stoves, so they saved money and contacted our team. We visited the community mid-November (that will be part 1 update) to confirm interest and need. After our visit, 65 families signed up with a 100Q ($12) down payment on the stoves. We also have an American donor who subsidized the cost of the stove. They cost 935Q per stove and he's covering 420Q. Transport costs to actually deliver all the raw materials were a really huge part of the stove cost.
Anyway, this past Wed and Thu (Thanksgiving Day!), Ricardo and I traveled to Rio Azul by microbus (mini-van) with our team of five masons, Brian - the donor, and four indigenous girls from Brian's school. We met at 4:40 am and departed from Nebaj at 5 am. We took two minivans and a pick up truck and ultimately arrived around 12:30 p.m. Riding in a mini-van and pick up truck is so much better than riding on a back of a motorcycle - let me just say that much.
Our entourage walked over to meet our contact, Nicolas. He was very kind and made arrangements for us to have lunch with different families. Ricardo and I ate lunch at the home of Nicolas's brother. His mom made us a spicy pork soup, which we ate with tortillas. Um, don't get excited. It was a little different looking because the pork was burnt black, the broth was very oily. Basically the broth was seasoned with salt and chili - two standard Guatemalan ingredients. We understood that it was very generous of the family to share with us, so we ate it. It was hard for Ricardo because he doesn't eat pork, so it was his first time eating pork ever.
After lunch, we had a pre-meet with Nicolas. We were looking at the current stove his wife uses, more like big cauldron, and then we saw the discarded ONIL stove they had. Apparently an NGO, called ONIL, had donated quite a few stoves to the community. Nicolas and the team members said the stove was too small and it didn't have a good place to put wood into the stove, so they tossed it. Have a picture of the cement base of the stove outside of Nicolas's house.
After our chat, we headed to the auxiliatura to meet with the community members to organize logistics for the Thu delivery of materials. Chaotic as always, we reordered the order of priority based on regions to make it easier for the masons who were building stoves at each of the homes. I have a pic of the lucky lady from sector 2 who drew the first number so that the familes in her sector will get stoves built for them first. Our masons are able to build 7 stoves a day (three of the guys can build two stoves a day, one guy only builds one stove a day). Miguel, is the lead for the mason team so he oversees their efforts rather than actually construct anything.
After a super long meeting, we received permission for our team to sleep in the school. It's vacation time for students in Guatemala. The school year starts up again in January. Ricardo made me a nice "room" to separate my space from the male masons by using the desks to be my fortress. It was very sweet. We made arrangements to meet at Nicolas's home at 6:30 for dinner. The community has no electricity, so Nicolas lit one candle for us. I had a head lamp and Ricardo has his solar light. It was really useful for this trip. It's so hard to fathom living in a community that has no electricity or light. There's a pic of Ricardo, Miguel and the masons around the table with the solar light (looks like a desk lamp).
Candle light is really orange. I've seen the D.light pics to show the difference between LED lighting and kerosene lamp lighting, but it's a different thing to experience it real time. When we explained about the solar lights that we'll be offering in Jan, Nicolas was also quite interested in talking to his community about these lights. So, it looks like that will be our next project with this community.
Since there was no light, we all got ready for bed by 8 pm. It was a little challenging to sleep so early.
Fresh start at 6 am to wait for the delivery of stove construction materials. Because it rained the entire night, road conditions were treacherous, and with the heavy weight of the delivery truck, its arrival was delayed until 11 am. We had time to eat breakfast, which was supplied by Nicolas's wife. We had pasta and tortillas. I didn't see any fruits or vegetables in this town.
We met with the town to explain the delay and I introduced the solar light to them and did a quick demo to show how the panel charges the light. This firefly product is really interesting to me. The solar panel charges with daylight (can be cloudy), doesn't require direct sunlight. I can't wait until it arrives so I can see how it works and really spec it out because the company doesn't provide really detailed spec info.
When the materials arrived to build the first 26 of 69 stoves, the families were waiting to pick up their share of materials. It was a really great community effort. The men helping share heavy loads and the women doing their part to carry materials as well. I guess the Mayan men have a technique to strap heavy loads around their head to carry. It looks really painful to me, but that's what they do.
I'm excited by the people of Rio Azul. The people are very kind. Clearly, they lack resources, but the town is not helpless. I saw active community participation supporting each other. Different townspeople like Nicolas lead community initiatives to help their town. The townspeople were also collaborating and building a middle school. I have been wanting to see what life is like for myself in these rural communities since I have read so many books on social entrepreneurship. These families have high standards for what they need. The ONIL stove design didn't meet their needs, and although the stove was free, they had no use for it.
After all materials were distributed, Ricardo and I left the town at 2:30pm. Happy Thanksgiving to all! I was truly grateful to be able to go back to the town to witness the process. Unfortunately we did not stick around to see the construction of the stoves. I'll be going back to that region in the second week of December, so I plan to visit them to see how the families like their new stoves. They're all very excited to use them to make tamales for Christmas. I wanted to stay longer, but when we asked how people bathe, we were told the entire community just bathes in the river. I must admit I hit a wall here. For me, I couldn't fathom how that could be private or how one can bathe in such cold water. My compromise is to visit the community again later in the December. Ricardo and I made it back to Nebaj by 9 pm and were grateful for that as well.
