Good Morning Nancy and Gerry,
Arrived back in SMA on 7th and delighted to report all is going real well for the stove factory. I have much on the go ( as do Laura and Lee and the rest of our team) so have been a little remiss in forwarding detailed updates/photos etc.
This also has to be a brief info message but I will in the near future send a more detailed interim report to our Rotary partners and of course STI.
As of the end of the month we have sold and delivered 164 stoves with another 112 likely on order for a total of 276.
We are now running with eight molds and will be producing 160 stoves/month. Eric our factory owner has now employed three workers and his wife Deyanira (part-time) and they are all trained and very productive. We have authorised Eric to build two more molds (#'s 9&10) which will likely take us to capacity for the factory size. We are altering the layout of his factory ( adding additional space for metal work ) and with continued improved efficiencies are targetting 250 stoves a month in the near term.
On the promotion and sales side we still receive requests from out of state for stoves, in fact a church group from Veracruz drove through this week and picked up twelve stoves for their community ( with likely much more to follow)
We have a standing order for 50 stoves from Colima when we can work out delivery etc. Saul Juarez is doing a very good job with demonstrations in rural communities around SMA and we are soon to be working with Ezequiel Mojica ( Apoyo micro-credit) on a test basis on one of his 16 communities to demonstrate and take orders for stoves. We are also working with him and the SMA Community Church, also on a test project in a community called Las Clavellinas ( about one hour from SMA) The Church raised sufficient funds at a luncheon to purchase 33 stoves. With Ezequiel's guidance and after training they will engage a young single mother in that community to demonstrate and take orders for the sale of the 33 stoves. Upon completing the sale of the initial 33 stoves the Church, through Ezequiel and after paying the woman a reasonable compensation amount, will order additional stoves with the balance of funds remaining ...and so on and so on! This generates nice continued stove sales for the factory and employment and thus income for the young woman. We hope to replicate this with the Church and other NGO's in other rural communities.
We have been also working with Feed the Hungry here in San Miguel who operates 23 kitchens in rural communities.
We are doing a further demonstration/tour of the factory for their Board members on the 16th. Their organization has recently added garden projects and nutritional programs to their services provided to the communities they serve. Although the Ecocina Stove is impractical for their kitchens they may consider using a stove at each kitchen to demonstrate healthy cooking methods for the produce grown in the gardens managed by the mothers. The hope is that this will happen and that at each school in the 23 communities there will be demonstrations of the use and benefits of the Ecocina Stove ( hopefully resulting in more people acquiring a stove)
All great stuff and everyone here is content with our progress including Walter who is off again to Nicaragua. This is likely why you have not been receiving your regular 60+ photographs.
Best
John
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