The beginnings of Stove Team International
Nancy Hughes never imagined that at the age when most people retire, she would start a stove factory in Guatemala.In 2009, when Nancy visited Playa Grande with a medical team, she learned that smoke from indoor cooking fires kills eight times as many as malaria and is the leading cause of death of children under age five.In the majority of households in rural areas of Guatemala, families cook over open fires, risking burns, respiratory diseases, hernias, and eye problems; and using firewood requires walking for hours to collect it. The average family collects up to 50 pounds of wood per day, contributing to severe deforestation and global climate change.With the help of one of the world’s most experienced stove designers and a surprise donation from guitarist Carlos Santana, https://www.santana.com/ Nancy decided to take action.She began by designing a safe, portable cookstove to replace open cooking fires. Field and laboratory testing by US agencies have shown it reduces particulate matter by 86% and wood usage by 50%.She and a group of volunteers then founded the non-profit StoveTeam International to help start sustainable, local factories. With generous contributions from Eugene Southtowne Rotary Club and Club Rotario Guatemala Sur, the project began. In the past seven years, StoveTeam has helped start seven factories in Latin America that have produced and sold more than 50,000 fuel-efficient cookstoves.
Ecocomal
One of the most successful factories, Ecocomal, has both produced and sold cookstoves, and has also started a free school, Paso a Paso, in San Antonio Aguas Calientes.
Marco Tulio Guerra grew up in a rural area with many shortages and deficiencies, and those motivated him to help those in need. Marco and his wife Ana Luisa Herrera live in Jocotenango and they worked with StoveTeam International to start EcoComal, a stove factory located in San Antonio Aguas Calientes.
Ecocomal now designs, manufactures, and sells five types of wood-burning ecological stoves. Training on the use and placement of the stove and a six-month follow up to answer questions are part of the cost of each stove.
Every year StoveTeam International brings volunteers to help produce and distribute stoves. Visitors are also welcome to tour facilities or purchase stoves directly from Ecocomal for those in need.
StoveTeam continues to provide training, consulting, and planning services at each factory in order to help them make it self-sufficient.
All donations to StoveTeam International, a US NGO, also go to help provide stoves to those who need them.
StoveTeam and Ecocomal are anxious to collaborate with foundations and NGOs to provide more stoves to those in need.
Cooking Shouldn’t Kill!
For more information:
Eco Comal
[TEL] 4203-3124, 5184-9521
[EMAIL] [email protected]
[WEB] www.ecocomal.com
[FB] Ecocomal
StoveTeam International
[TEL] +1 541 554 4638
[WEB] stoveteam.org
[FB] /StoveTeam
