Where: Bueno Café, Las Clavallinas, The Stove Factory,
When: 6 Feb 2012
Who: Felisha & Virginia (GACC), John, Walter, Denis, Enrique, Laura (Rotary Stove Team) Eric Stove Factory Owner, Ezykiel, Guadalupe(Apoyo), Benjamin (Driver & Pacemd), at breakfast Estevan Kuhne (desarrollo Social director) (later Martin from Fondo Verde & Nancy & Walt Meyer – Stove Team International Volunteers)
Purpose of the meeting: for Felisha & Virgina of GACC Global Alliance for Cleaner Cookstoves (http://cleancookstoves.org/) to gather information about the ecocina stove & the need in our región.
John organised an excellent day for Felisha & Virginia who were here in SMA on a whirlwind tour as part of the initiative to research need & solutions to the cleaner cookstove global dilema.
We met for a breakfast meeting, quick introductions & discussion, & then headed to Las Clavallinas to see the ecocina stove in situ as well as see cooking conditions in rural SMA.
- Las Clavallinas is a community of 250 families, 50% catholic, 50% other religión (which “interestingly” involves multiple wives, living in different casitas on the same property, each with their own kitchen or sometimes shared kitchen).
- This community has been “adopted” by the Community Church of SMA & they have been instrumental in funding various initiatives, including the community Salon at the Primary school, & funding a sewing business for local women.
- One woman has received a donated stove & is operating as a “demonstration” & orders & distribution outlet.
She had the stove outside for our visit but normally has it inside, where a brick chimney was constructed for her previous Wood stove. Felisha & Virginia asked to see inside & had several questions here are some of the facts
- She has a gas stove also,
- Gas stove cost approx $2000 pesos
- Cylindar is outside the window & costs approx $350pesos every 2mths for gas
- Husband sells tepetate bricks & family income approx $700 per week
- She uses the gas stove when she’s in a hurry, like breakfast time before getting kids to school
- She used to have a Wood burning fogon inside the kitchen, but now uses the ecocina.
- The community has recently been given permission for the ejiditarios (land owners) to sell their land, & since then they have parcelled it off & fenced it, & so locals are no longer permitted to cut the tres down on these parcels.
- They are allowed to pick up the small sticks that the ecocina requires
- They have electricity, cost approx $300-400 for 2 months, have tv, fridge & light.
- They have no heating other than the gas stove & ecocina
We visited another kitchen, she had a lean-to kitchen with a tarpaulen stretched as a roof, the tarp was black & sooty & very ripped, the kitchen was completely blackened, she had 7 kids & she now has bought an ecocina stove. Her stove was very well cleaned, she had scraped comal, & skirt was cleaned as well as the top of the stove being swept.
We visited the sewing co-op & talked with the women about their goals & dreams, John took a simple uniform to talk with the Madres of the Children’s homes to see if they might purchase uniforms from these women. The machines & cutting table etc very profesional, & the samples were well made. The govt has also sponsored them & has imposed mínimum sales requisite to ensure the machines are in use, they were brainstorming ways to increase business, including looking at who their competition is etc.
We piled back in the van & headed to the stove Factory. Eric’s wife gave us (including Nancy & Walt Meyers, visiting STI volunteers), a tour explaining the various parts of the manufacture process & also demonstrated lighting of the stove & answered questions. Martin from Fondo Verde also visited for this part of the day.
We shared a delicious packet lunch with the Factory team & local community members, then dropped our GACC visitors back to the bus… Long day, short but productive visit, with promises to stay in touch.
Photos courtesy of Dr Walter Scott - Gracias Walter!
