As we celebrate over 15 years as an organization, we look back with appreciation upon the years leading up to StoveTeam’s founding, as well as our many phases of growth working in Central America. Read on to learn about the many passionate individuals, groups, and donors that formed StoveTeam and continue to shape the organization’s trajectory as we plan for 2023 and beyond.
I have just returned from two weeks of travel with StoveTeam’s Board Chair, Kim Forrest, and Christadelphian Meal a Day of the Americas board members to visit all three of our partner projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. This month I’m happy to share some of these photos and experiences with you….
Employees of the Avanza Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua
CMADF Board Member Matthew Swift with Elida Olivas, Shelby Kardas & Kim Forrest
The last stop on this journey is Estelí, Nicaragua to visit Elida and Nelson Olivas and our team of stovebuilders at Fabrica Avanza. After a little snag at the airport, we finally arrived at the factory space, and much to our surprise, Elida and Nelson had literally laid out the red carpet …. The factory space was transformed into a party venue, and it looked pretty great! We were in a festive mood after traveling all day and happy to share a great meal and music with the Avanza Factory employees, stovebuilders, and members from two coffee cooperatives who are helping to identify stove recipients in the outlying communities.
The next day, we were back to our purpose and happy to see that Elida Olivas, factory owner, is very successfully selling the portable Ecocina cookstove to local families and that her husband Nelson is applying his many years as a stovebuilder to now oversee the expanding Justa project in Nicaragua. We also announced a new partnership! ClimateHound is now sponsoring the placement of Ecocina cookstoves in Nicaragua to help the food and beverage industry of North America offset its carbon footprint.
ClimateHound founder and CEO Palmer Fox says, "Our company's mission is to help our clients -- from beverage producers and bars to restaurants and food and beverage festivals -- to calculate their impact and reduce it in ways that are meaningful to the planet and to their customers. Nothing could speak to our community more than helping other communities, like those served by StoveTeam, to cook and feed themselves safely, and we are proud to be the exclusive sponsor of Ecocina stove production and distribution in Nicaragua.”
We also had fun doing a live cooking show with a woman entrepreneur who runs a family business cooking and selling hundreds of the Nicaraguan, specialty, nacatamales using her portable, Ecocina cookstove. Click here to see the live recording.
“Nothing could speak to our community more than helping other communities, like those served by StoveTeam, to cook and feed themselves safely.”
One last word about Nicaragua. In every home we visited, we were received with such generosity, and tasty snacks. We met one woman who showed us how she is using her new Justa stove. Her kitchen was warm, full of delicious cooking smells, and it was smoke-free. She prepared a delicious snack of arroz con leche for all of us and her young son. These are the moments that remind us why we do this work.
Doña Érica García prepares arroz con leche in her smoke-free kitchen outside of Estelí, Nicaragua
This was my first time visiting this stunningly beautiful country, and I didn’t want to leave. I hope to return very soon! These trips allow us to monitor the impact that we are having in the communities where we work, to reconnect with our partners and stovebuilders in the field, and deepen our relationships with the communities we serve. We are so thankful at this moment for the generous support of the Christadelphian Meal a Day of the Americas who joined on this trip to see the impact of their contributions first-hand, and as always, we’re so thankful for your support.
You are the reason we are able to bring safe kitchens to families in Latin America. Thank you for following along with us on this journey!
Shelby and the StoveTeam
Shelby, Emerson, Kim & Gustavo attend a stove demonstration in Sonsonate, El Salvador.
I have just returned from two weeks of travel with StoveTeam’s Board Chair, Kim Forrest, and Christadelphian Meal a Day of the Americas board members to visit all three of our partner projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. This month I’m happy to share some of these photos and experiences with you….
Our next stop is visiting long-time StoveTeam partner, Gustavo Peña in Sonsonate, El Salvador. Gustavo is one of the pillars of StoveTeam and has been distributing fuel-efficient cookstoves to his community for over 14 years. One thing about a visit to Gustavo’s factory - you will never be bored! In 2 days we visited many of the 250 Justa stoves that his team of stovebuilders has installed since the spring. (Five stovebuilders are recent graduates of the Maestros Comaleros stovebuilder training academy.) We also participated in 2 community events where Gustavo educates women about the benefits of improved cookstoves, and we met the Mayor of one community who is an active partner.
We met so many women who tell us their stories of living in SMOKE. All of these stories have one thing in common -- women love their new stoves because they no longer have to spend their days breathing toxic smoke to take care of their families.
“Gustavo is deeply known and trusted by everyone in the community: from the Mayor to the individual women who have received stoves. He has a real talent and passion for communicating the personal dangers of open cooking fires and persuading individuals and municipalities to invest in learning about clean cookstove technology.”
It is always so great to be in El Salvador with Gustavo because he makes you feel right at home. Gustavo has been with StoveTeam since the very beginning and deserves his place in our history. At Gustavo’s factory, it is truly a family affair. Gustavo’s wife Elvira helps set up all the community events and does the accounting. Gustavo’s youngest son, Emerson, is in charge of all stove checks and surveys and is quickly becoming Gustavo’s right-hand man, and we hope, he will carry his legacy into the future. It is particularly heart-warming to meet the guys in the factory and to know that Gustavo has employed most of them for over 20 years.
“Gustavo treated us to a visit at the new double-decker marketplace at Izalco, which is home to nearly 20 independent pupuseria stalls. Had Gustavo not been involved in helping the municipality see the benefit of clean cookstoves, the women who run these businesses would be cooking over old-fashioned smoky and inefficient cook surfaces. However, thanks to Gustavo, each stall has a built-in improved pupusaria stove that makes a safer and more profitable work environment for these female entrepreneurs.”
We had some time to cook pupusas on a Justa stove in the factory and we ended our visit with a delicious BBQ prepared by Gustavo’s family (all El Salvadoran food and beer). We were stuffed to the gills by the end and sent away with well-wishes and hugs to so many of YOU, from Oregon, and across the country who have visited, worked, and contributed to make this effort in Sonsonate, El Salvador possible.
Our next stop on this journey is Esteli, Nicaragua to visit the Avanza factory owned and operated by Elida Olivas. We hope you will continue to join us. Stay tuned…..
Doña Teresa received the 2nd Justa stove ever built by StoveTeam in Guatemala.
I have just returned from two weeks of travel with StoveTeam’s Board Chair, Kim Forrest, and Christadelphian Meal a Day of the Americas board members to visit all three of our partner projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. I love being in the field because it reminds me WHY we do this work. As we move into the New Year, we wanted to share some of these photos and stories with you.
During this trip, we visited stove participants to see how these new stoves are changing lives. We visited the home of one of our very first Justa stove recipients in Guatemala, Doña Theresa. She told us that “she loves her new stove because the smoke no longer burns her eyes, and she saves so much wood.”
I was especially excited to participate in a Maestros Comaleros stove builder training academy. The Maestros Comaleros stove builder training academy is an intensive, three-day endeavor that pairs classroom theory with two days of hands-on building. Eighteen stove builders from Guatemala and El Salvador (17 men, and 1 woman) gained skills to educate families about the danger of open-fire cooking, the health and economic benefits of adopting the new stove, and the technical aspects of stove design. I am so impressed with the organization of this training, but mostly with our Guatemalan and El Salvadoran stove builders and trainers who are eager to learn and become masters at their skill. The technical part of this training is being led by 2 of our most successful women stovebuilders, Bety and Anibela.
“I love being in the field because it reminds me WHY we do this work, and it’s wonderful to share our progress with our long-time supporters.”
Santos, graduated from the Maestros Comaleros training earlier in 2022. Santos has been building stoves in his home community of San Martín Jilotepeque, and was recently asked to participate in this Maestros Comaleros training as a trainer. When he is not training new stovebuilders, or building new stoves, he is in charge of doing one-week follow-up visits on new stoves to ensure quality control and to collect surveys that help us analyze our adoption.
Click on this link to see Santos in action with several of his trainees building a stove inside a home.
StoveTeam’s women stovebuilders build a justa stove during Maestros Comaleros training
One of StoveTeam’s absolute superstars is Anibela. Our entire group was blown away by her enthusiasm and positive attitude. Watching Anibela work truly shows the nature of the Maestros Comaleros program which is intended not only to provide gainful employment and technical skill, but to encourage entrepreneurship in individuals.
Anibela is also a recent graduate of the Maestros Comaleros program, and due to her amazing work ethic and enthusiasm, she has quickly become one of our best stovebuilders and has been promoted to supervisor and trainer.
Anibela is just one of the women who make up our star stovebuilding team. We know that women are part of the solution, and we are building a stellar team of women stovebuilders and promoters who are essential to encouraging other women to adopt new technology. The best part of the training for me was the graduation. Seeing so many proud and happy faces also made me happy.
In this photo left to right: Master Stovebuilders & Trainers, Anibela and Bety, new Maestra Comalera, Sylvia, Administrative Assistant in the Guatemala office, Rossi, and Guatemala Operations Director, Waleska.
““In the future, we hope to attract more women to this work, because women are awesome stovebuilders!”
Soon we will leave Guatemala, and head to Sonsonate, El Salvador to visit the factory of StoveTeam’s long-time factory partner Gustavo Peña. We hope you will continue to join us on this journey. Stay tuned…..
Rosemery Vail Hernandez, Master Stove builder, constructs a Justa stove in Guatemala
This year, Rosemery Vail Hernandez and her sister Anabela Vail Hernandez found a new way to give back to their community and improve the health of Guatemalan families: building Justa stoves.
The sisters aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, demonstrating enthusiasm for the project since the very beginning of their Master Stovebuilder training. They travel to multiple communities each week to develop building plans and construct stoves.
Alex Eaton, Guatemala Country Director said,“
“We have a handful of Maestras Comaleras that love building stoves: Mari, Anabela and Rosemery. They learned very quickly how to build and communicate with local families about the benefits of the Justa stove - but what I love more than anything is their positive attitudes.”
Anabela Vail Hernandez builds a new Justa stove in a Guatemalan kitchen.
Waleska Santos, Guatemala Operations Director
This September marked the one-year Anniversary of Waleska's employment with StoveTeam. Waleska has made invaluable contributions to expanding StoveTeam's programs in Guatemala, supervising the launch of new Justa stove projects as well as the Master Stovebuilders (Maestros Comaleros) program. Country Director, Alex Eaton, had this to say about Waleska's contributions:
"It is a pleasure to work alongside Waleska who has grown to be a trusted advisor and partner. She has helped develop the Justa project into an effort that spans Guatemala and is fortified by a robust stovebuilder training program. Waleska is a powerful and intelligent woman who shares her knowledge and skill to bring safer homes to families in Guatemala.”
Waleska shared these words about her experience with StoveTeam so far:
At StoveTeam, our stove recipients’ wants and needs inform our designs and approaches. We know that the success of our projects relies on the satisfaction of the families we serve. It’s not enough to provide a stove that saves fuel wood and ensures a smoke-free home, we also need to ensure that families truly love our stoves. Otherwise, they might not be be willing to leave behind the generations-old tradition of cooking over an open fire.
