Ecocina Project 1st Community Demonstration

Where: Community of Capaderillo (Saul’s community)
When: Saturday 13.8.11 5.00pm – 7.35pm
Who: Saul (Saul’s wife, son & mother in law) Lee, Laura (& Steve ), plus 45 adults incl 3 men + 12 kids

Purpose: 1st community demonstration of the ecocina stove.

We arrived a little late straight from the meeting with Eric & purchasing some cheese on the way…
Saul was completely set up with Table, table cloth, stove, tortilla press, pot of water, etc. The community had assembled & were waiting for us. I greeted familiar faces from the water project, & Saul introduced Lee & Steve.
We asked for permission to take photos to record this event, everyone laughed & agreed.
He explained that this was the first community demonstration in Mexico .
Saul explained that this project had come about as an extension of our work on the Water project & now the regional council in this area, that Rotary continued to be committed to assisting the community to find their solutions to issues & that this stove was as a result of a demonstrated need. 100% of the people in this community cook tortillas, beans, rice etc & all have been cooking on open fires, “fogones” or “braseros”.
He began to describe the stove & pointed out that it was constructed with materials they are all familiar with having constructed their own water cisterns also from ferro cement.
He described all the parts of the stove including the metal components, comal, parilla, porta lena etc. Saul used Walters photos to better describe the use & benefits v cooking with smoke! His mother in law has more than 30 yrs exposure cooking on open fires & has health issues. He began to describe the fundamental problems:
• Environmental issues, using up wood, polluting atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
• Health issues, eyes, nose, lungs, bad for unborn babies, & children in infancy – he sited many personal examples of people close to him with health issues directly resulting from exposure to smoke.
For these reasons we have been looking for alternative solution, “every day people are looking for better ways to things, like the blender & the washing machine” we would like to present an ideal solution to these problems.
He went on to describe every feature of the stove in more detail, including the insulation factor of the volcanic rock, the double combustion ie very little smoke, the efficiency (fast to heat up, using less wood). “the manner of combustion of this stove is ideal, it produces a lot of heat with almost no smoke, in the middle is piedra volcanica which insulates but has low conductivity, so the outside is not too hot to touch”. “we can fit 6 tortillas of normal size on the comal” “the type of pot is unimportant – you can use traditional clay pot or metal” The skirt goes around the bottom of the pot to conserve heat, it is extendable, you just need to leave approx. 1 finger width space between the pot & the skirt – approximate, don’t go sticking your finger in there when it’s hot!”
He showed the comal & explained that it is reinforced in the centre & helps spread the heat. In the middle is hotter & at sides less hot, so you can have multiple things cooking at once.

He paused at that point & called for any questions
Immediate question was “how much?” Saul responded $499 & everyone seemed fine with that… He went on to explain that an average comal would cost $200-300 pesos on it’s own & this was included in the price.
He explained that it is important to keep the bottom of the comal clean as well, to assist in heat transfer.
He asked what they thought of the price & all agreed it seemed fair. Saul explained the excellent price was achieved as Rotary is helping to promote the stove hence the cost is lower, but that it would, in normal business situation be much more highly priced, ie that other businesses would expect a higher profit margin & not be interested in creating a fair price.
Think about how much a visit to the doctor costs, with smokey fires there are lots of issues caused that require medical attention. Think about how much coca cola you buy each day/week. This demonstration is paid for by Rotary to help you understand the wider issues.
He asked when they would like him to bring them their stoves, & began to light the stove. It was a particularly windy day & there was a lot of smoke, which everyone joked about, at last, after about 7 mins, the smoke stopped & he put the comal on & began the cooking… the whole mood of the demo changed, everyone became very animated, got up to touch (quickly) the comal to see how hot it was, were joking & looking, poking the sticks further in etc. Everyone had a quesadilla. One of the comments was “with this little wood it’s working already?” .
People began to place their names on the list to order a stove for delivery next Saturday, some chose to pay 50% deposit, others had no cash on them but said they would pay in full next week.
At the completion of the demo. Saul had a list of 12 orders for stoves. He wasn’t sure if this was a good result or not & I told him I believe it is an excellent result, as they are the early adopters & are therefore a smaller group, what we have witnessed in all project meetings is a group of the “brave” ones who will participate & commit, & then a much larger group of those sitting back to see what happens… that larger group then commit at a later time when they see it proven. I have no doubt that once these 12 stoves are delivered to this community , there will be another round of orders.

• The demo finished 7pm & we (the team) continued with a de brief & covering some issues…