January 5, 2106...

Work Day 1 San Jorge

 Our day started with a quick tutorial on stove building. The majority of indigenous Mayans cook on an open fire, in their homes. Besides being a huge fire risk, the families (especially the women) are breathing in tons of smoke, damaging their eyes with the heat, and there is a very real risk of burns to children. Their homes are covered in a thick layer of soot, which is a visual reminder of how much crap they were breathing in. Mayan Families installs ONIL stoves (kind of a long video, but it explains how they work and the benefits to this specific type). The stove is made of 11 concrete cinder blocks as the base, with 3 concrete pieces making up the actual stove. The stoves use Terra cotta pieces to form the burn area, which is surrounded by sand to help maintain a more even and constant heat. The wings on the sides of the stove prevent accidental burns, while adding a little bit of work space. These stoves also use around 70% less firewood than the open fires do, which saves the families money and time (if they couldn't afford to buy the firewood, they'd have to climb into the mountains and bring home what they needed). What we (the students) didn't know before coming down to Guatemala - part of our tuition for this trip actually purchased a stove. Essentially, each student purchased one stove, which is amazing!


After getting our lesson in stove building, we made our way to San Jorge, Panajachel's closest neighbor. We stopped in the town "square", outside of the Mayan Families Elderly Feeding Center. Because food is scarce and hard to come by, elderly people are being abandoned by their families, who are struggling to feed themselves. Mayan Families provides meals for the elderly in San Jorge Monday-Friday. We had the opportunity to help serve the elderly their lunch. There are no men in this group. The government killed nearly every man that could potentially fight against them in the civil war that ended in 1996. These women that we served actually stood up against their government, to protect their town and their men. When the soldiers attempted to come into San Jorge, the men ran up into the mountains to hide and the women and children blocked the single road that provides access to the town with themselves. There are no words to describe how lucky we were to be able to serve these women.

 This is Alex. Alex is 9, but looks like he is about 6. Chronic malnutrition is a huge problem in Guatemala. Alex is such a great kid, he was counting to us in English, then asking how old we all were. He was so eager to please us. After lunch, we went out into the square and played soccer and frisbee with Alex and the other children that had shown up. 

We installed 4 stoves after lunch, in San Jorge. We were split up into 3 groups, with two of the groups installing one stove, and the group I was in, installing two stoves. The pieces were heavy, and the homes are all on hillsides, with quite a hike to get to them from the road. 

It was so neat to see how happy the families were to get a concrete stove. The first home we went into had no furniture except for a table. No beds, no chairs. A dirt floor to sleep on. Being able to safely cook their food was a big thing for them. These were the two families we helped that first day.