Off Come the Training Wheels

Text by Emily Rempel

As with any position of responsibility, there comes a time when the trainees must learn to fly solo. Sometimes we know exactly when our newly learned skills will be put to the test, and other times we’re surprised by a pop quiz. For Environmental Projects Coordinator Mary-Mak and I, last Tuesday was definitely a “pop quiz” kind of day.

We set out on the Safe Stove Project just like any other day, our bag of tools in hand, following the lead of our stove expert, Carmelina (who we’ve lovingly dubbed “La Reina de las Estufas,” or “Stove Queen”). We would be finishing up the third and final stage of a stove we’d been building in the home of a truly lovely couple and their sweet little baby. This particular stove project was memorable for me as it would be the first time I’d gotten to work on the same stove through all three of its stages.

We had just barely gotten started with the day’s build when our Stove Queen, Carmelina, was called away on family business. Of course, not only can Carmelina build a stove faster than anyone I’ve ever seen, but she’s also a mother.

Talk about a #LadyBoss, am I right?

Stage 1 of the stove (Photo by Emily Rempel)

And that’s when the training wheels came off, when the pop quiz was handed out, when we learned to fly solo. Now, before I indulge myself in any more dramatization, I should probably clarify that this was definitely not my, or Mary’s, first stove. I’d participated in about 5 different builds, doing every stage at least once. Mary-Mak, as our beloved Environmental Projects Coordinator, had completed her full stove building training, which you may have read about here (if not, check it out!). She had also been co-leading builds with Carmelina.

Stage 3 ft. the family's creative addition to help even out the cement (Photo by Mary Gramiak)

Nevertheless, it was still nerve-wracking to be left reliant on our own understanding of the project… especially when dealing with materials as unforgiving as cement. This would be Mary-Mak’s first time leading the project solo, and unfortunately for her, I was the only other Pop Wuj volunteer there to help. It was also only my second day as an official intern.

Luckily, Mary-Mak’s training quickly kicked in, and she was able to guide us through the final stage of the stove with only a few minor speed-bumps along the way. We were also helped along significantly by Señor Sales, the husband and father of the house, who was wonderfully patient with us and managed to contain most of his laughter at our masonry struggles. He also rigged up a very effective method of smoothing and evening out our final layer of cement. All in all, it ended up being a real team effort, and was an amazing experience to be able to work so closely with the family that will be using this stove for many years to come. Through lots of broken Spanish, hand gestures, and laughter, we were able to communicate well enough to get the job done.

There’s something really special about being welcomed into someone’s home, in a space as intimate and vital as the kitchen. For food lovers like me, the kitchen can really be understood as the heart of a home. As such, it can’t be stressed enough how important it is to make sure that a kitchen is as safe, accessible, and functional as possible. To read more about the numerous health concerns associated with unsafe stoves, check out the last blog post by our Environmental Projects Coordinator. At the end of a building session, when you’re up to your elbows in clay and cement dust, it’s this knowledge that brings the most satisfaction: these stoves will undeniably have a tremendous positive impact on the everyday lives of the families who are using them.

With that last thought, I leave you with one final photo:

(Photo by Señor Sales)

The (almost) finished stove, Mary-Mak, and myself ... and the dirt-smeared, exhausted, triumphant smiles on our faces.

Talking Indoor Air Pollution

Text by Mary Gramiak and photo by Elise Lynch

One of the most exciting moments of the week before last was during a Nutrition Program meeting in Llanos del Pinal, where I was able to give a short presentation on the impacts indoor air pollution have on the lungs of women and children.

Here at Pop Wuj, we run a Safe Stove Project which upgrades cook stoves in the Llanos del Pinal region just outside of Xela. These stoves are constructed to reduce the probability of burns, reduce smoke in the kitchen, and reduce the amount of fuel needed by about half. With this presentation, we were able to continue to educate women on the impacts open fire cookstoves have on the health of themselves and their children.

Mary and Carmen talking about the impacts of indoor air pollution on health. 

Many people don't know, but indoor air pollution is one of the leading causes of premature death in the developing world, with World Health Organization estimates ranging around 4 million deaths every year. The indoor air pollution comes almost exclusively from stoves which use open fires, biomass fuels, or coal, and has profound impacts on the health of communities and individuals.

Indoor air pollution affects children the most, and can lead to low birthweight in infants, pneumonia, atypical lung development, asthma, and tuberculosis. In adults, it contributes to strokes, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer. For the community, these stoves can pollute the air and their energy inefficiency leads to rapid deforestation. On a day to day basis, the smoke from these stoves contributes to skin and eye irritation and headaches. Of the 3 billion people worldwide who cook over  these stoves, many are inhaling the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes a day. Of course, because women and children spend the most time in these environments, they are disproportionally impacted.

In the Thursday presentation I was able to talk with a group of women from Llanos del Pinal whose children participate in the malnutrition clinic about the different ways indoor air pollution effects women, children, and babies. In order to illustrate these points we filled three different size jars, small, medium, and large, with water in order to represent the different sized lungs. Then we dropped the same amount of ink into each and watched the ink spread throughout the jar. In the smallest jar, which represented the lungs of a baby, the water was pitch black while in the adult's jar the colour was significantly more diluted. This represented how the effects of indoor air pollution on babies are significantly more profound than the effects in adults. By using the visual demonstration of the jars and the ink we were able to turn a complex topic such as respiratory health into a user-friendly experience for the women involved.

A really rewarding moment from this presentation came the next day, Friday, when Carmen, Carmelina, and I went out to conduct interviews for the new group of safe stove participants. Before someone can receive a stove we conduct short interviews to identify their needs and overall profile, including number of dependents, level of education, and so on. What was special about these interviews was that we met with many women who had intended the presentation the day before. This was important because we were able to follow through with a lot of women by not only talking about the impacts of indoor air pollution, but actively offering them alternatives to their current cooking situation.

If you're interested in learning more about the impacts of indoor air pollution in the developing world there are many resources available including this fact sheet  from the United Nations.

"¿Cómo se dice 'cinder blocks' en español?" and other learning curves from the Safe Stove Project

Text and photo by Mary Gramiak

¡Hola todos!

What a wild ride this first week with Pop Wuj has been. After spending the first couple days getting the lay of the land I was able to start working on the Safe Stove Project in full force. This started on Tuesday and Wednesday with half-day excursions to complete one stove and get started on another. After getting a taste on those days, I spent the weekend with a Guatemalan engineer and Spanish teacher named Mynor in another community learning how to build the stoves from start to finish. For those of you who may have never built a stove before, let me explain a little about what that looks like.

The first phase consists of laying a 90cmx125cm base of cinder blocks, held together by cement. The cement has to be mixed by hand with either a shovel or a spade. While the cement is being mixed two cinder blocks need to be cut in half, and then a third cut into quarters. When I told my dad this his response was "How do you cut the blocks? Do you have a masonry saw?", the short answer to this is no. In order to cut the cinder blocks they have to be chopped in half with one of our two machetes. Before beginning the Safe Stove Project I had never considered just how many uses there are for machetes, I have since learned they can be used for pretty much anything. Once the cement has been mixed and the cinder blocks have been cut we use small trowels to fill the gaps in the blocks and let it sit to dry. This is a very messy process if, like myself, you're not so handy with trowels or cement. There are three layers of cinder blocks in the first layer, and after each layer is completed the first stage of the stove is finished.

Once the first stage has dried overnight we are free to get started on the second stage. This stage is similar to the first and consists of placing three layers of brick atop the cinder blocks with both clay and cement. This stage is significantly more difficult than the first as both the clay and cement need to be mixed by hand which is a tough job when there's only two people, as was the case over the weekend. Once the clay and have cement have been mixed you can begin laying the bricks on top of the cinder blocks from the day before. When laying the bricks it is important to account for the door at the front and the chimney at the back, but other than that it's pretty straight forward. Upon reflection the hardest part of the work was mixing the clay and cement. It's hard to say how long it took to mix the two pastes because in my head it took 16 hours at least; realistically it probably took more like an hour. Michelle Obama arms here I come.

Mynor putting the final touches on the Safe Stove
this weekend. 

The final stage is the most satisfying by far because it's the stage where the stove top and chimney are installed. There is still some cement mixing in this stage, but significantly less which is a nice break. The tricky part in this stage is cutting the hole in the roof in order for the chimney to have somewhere to go. In order to do this you have to climb up a ladder and cut the hole using very rusty tin cutters. As one person is working on that others are busy constructing a ramp within the stove to provide a direction for the smoke, and filling the final layers of brick with clay. Once the chimney has been installed and the bricks have been laid we install the stove top and lay a final layer of cement. From there we set to work levelling the cement, filling any holes, and cleaning the chimney and stove top so it's bright and shiny for the family. You can check out a picture of the final product above.

Working with Mynor this weekend was challenging it was so cool to be invited into a space as intimate as someone's home. Everyday with Pop Wuj has proved to be an incredible learning experience so far and I'm so eager to see what the next few months have to offer.

Life as a Pop Wuj Intern

Text by Nadia Mondini and Photos and Captions by Elizabeth Barnes

On Friday, July 22, Pop Wuj bid goodbye to interns Chris Conklin and Nadia Mondini. Adaptable, enterprising, and enthusiastic, the two of them have been involved in every single one of Pop Wuj's projects and helped us tremendously. As one of her last undertakings, Nadia wrote a reflection on her experience volunteering with us.

When I applied for a position as an Environmental Projects Coordinator at Pop Wuj in January, I had not much of an idea of what to expect. I didn’t know much about Guatemala, about what my everyday routine as an intern would look like, or about the people I was going to work with. Today, on my last day after almost two months at Pop Wuj, I cannot believe how sad it makes me to leave.

My experience at Pop Wuj has been more amazing than what I could have imagined, and I’ll take more wonderful memories with me than I can possibly count.

My Monday mornings, coming in, getting my coffee, chatting a while with students and the just so amazingly cheerful and welcoming teachers, always with a smile and a joke ready for me.

Pop Wuj teacher Mynor Arrivillaga, Nadia (far right) and Pop Wuj students tuck into homemade pie on an afternoon break. 

My Monday meetings with the other interns and social work students, in which Director of the Social Projects Carmen de Alvarado would introduce the projects and tasks for the week. Her tales about Guatemala, culture, history, and her work, fruits of 25 years of experience.

My afternoons out in Llanos del Pinal, building stoves with the students and my fellow interns. The families helping us mixing clay and carrying bricks, sometimes offering us delicious tamales at the end of our work. Our sunset chicken bus rides back to Xela.

Our days planting little trees together with families and children, working all together in the sun and green of Llanos, San Juan, Chirijquiac. Carrying back our empty boxes, happy about our work, joking around.

Nadia and Social Work Spanish student Caroline Palleschi came to Chirijquiac for a long morning of planting trees and distributing scholarships. The biggest challenge was hauling 150 saplings up the mountain  on foot after discovering that our minibus couldn't manage to drive up the narrow trail!

The big stove meeting, in which we received the group of 14 new stove recipients to explain the building process. Día de compra, when we went out together with the recipient families to buy and distribute all the necessary materials, building long human chains to pass on bricks and cement blocks.

My Thursday mornings in the nutrition program, giving short educational speeches after the children had been weighed, measured and checked. Enjoying my banana and my cup of Incaparina together with the mums and kids, before heading back.

My afternoons out at the Centro de Apoyo Familiar, reading books with beautiful Zulmy, crafting Father’s Day cards or running around the courtyard.

Our Thursday dinners at the school, when one of the students would cook for everyone and we would spend a fun and delicious evening all together. “Mojitos para arbolitos” Thursday, on which us interns prepared mojitos to raise money for reforestation.

Nadia rests between planing saplings in the "very healthy forest" in San Juan where we planted in early July. Having written her undergraduate thesis on reforestation , Nadia was eager not only to use her own knowledge to benefit Pop Wuj's Reforestation Program but also to listen to and learn from the experiences of local community members.

All of our awesome weekend trips, visiting coffee farms, hot springs and natural volcano saunas, ziplining, climbing volcanos. Our night hike up stunning Tajumulco, the highest volcano in Central America, and watching the sunrise from the top, tired and freezing, but happy.

Eight weeks with my absolutely gorgeous Guatemalan host family, the insanely delicious “comida típica” (tradicional food), all of their tales about Guatemala, all of our laughs, all of our game nights.

Just simply every single stroll around beautiful Xela, which in only two months has become a home away from home.

In just two months, I learned more than I can say. I gained an insight into the absolutely stunning and fascinating country that Guatemala is, and realized that despite all the problems and issues it is facing, it is home to the doubtlessly most amazing, cheerful, and genuinely friendly people I have ever met. I made so many friends and so many experiences, and I am incredibly thankful for having been able to become a part of the big great awesome amazing Pop Wuj family.

I leave Xela as a happy, sad intern, knowing I will miss everything and everyone here, and hoping I will be able to come back one day.

Chris and Nadia spent their last morning at Pop Wuj saying goodbye to teachers, students, and staff and basking in the satisfaction of a job well done.

We miss Chris and Nadia already! Chris has returned to the U.S. to pursue his master's in global affairs at Yale University, and after a few more weeks of travel, Nadia will go home to Switzerland to pursue HER master's in Comparative and International Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. We wish our brilliant interns all the best and remind them that they will always be welcome at Pop Wuj.

To learn more about Pop Wuj's long-term volunteering program, check out EntreMundos, the local nonprofit that facilitates our internships.

Reforestation 2016

Text by Nadia Mondini and photos by Dawn Liberto (unless otherwise noted)

On June 24, we had a special day at Pop Wuj: reforestation day in Llanos del Pinal and Xecaracoj.

Tree planting is one of our main environmental projects. Although we plant in several other communities, in Llanos del Pinal and Xecaracoj especially reforestation complements the safe stove program. Pop Wuj stoves are designed not only to prevent smoke-related health issues, but also to save more than 50% of firewood: in order to reinforce this step against deforestation, during the rainy season we plant tree saplings on lands owned by new participants in the Safe Stove Project and families in the Scholarship Program.

Every year, reforestation gathers Pop Wuj staff, students, teachers and volunteers, safe stove and scholarship families, and children from the Family Support Center for a day of work and fun out in the green of Llanos.

Even after two hours of dividing trees up by families and organizing trees into boxes according to their destination on Wednesday afternoon, Nadia is excited for reforestation on Thurdsay morning! (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Saplings wait downstairs to be loaded into a chicken bus for their trip to Llanos del Pinal. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

We partnered with 14 families, all of whom received five trees to plant by their houses, and 7 of whom also received trees planted on other properties used for firewood or farming.

Pop Wuj teacher Alberto shows a group of 5- to 9-year-olds how to plant their saplings. Kids of all ages helped with planting, from the 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds in the youngest class at the Family Support Center to the teenagers who participated in the FSC last year and aged out.

FSC participants show off their saplings before planting. This year we planted a mix of pino blanco, aliso, and ciprés (white pine, alder, and cypress), all species that do well in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. 

This year, we were able to plant 275 saplings belonging to three indigenous species, as well as one eucalyptus tree for each family, very appreciated for its medicinal effects. Since we had to reach different patches of land, we split up into four groups. I joined the last group, which went the furthest and consisted of a funny mix of children, adolescents and the women owning the land.

Everybody was in a good mood, laughing and telling “bromas” (jokes). Our chicken bus took us high up the slopes of Santa María volcano in a beautiful drive across corn, bean and onion fields. When we reached our destination, everybody helped cleaning the lands from shrubs and weeds and digging little holes for the young trees. It was a challenging task, but together we made it, and finally left the lot with its share of young trees waiting for some afternoon rain. After a well-deserved banana and orange snack, we then went back to the lowlands in a fun pickup drive altogether.

Evelyn peels plastic wrapper off a sapling with care not to damage its fragile roots. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

For me as a relatively new intern at Pop Wuj, reforestation day was a highlight. It brought together such a lot of different people, all having fun, all learning from each other, and all contributing something to our common effort for a small step against deforestation and firewood shortage.

You Say It's Your Birthday

Text by Elizabeth Barnes and photos by Amalyah Leader
On April 28, the Family Support Center threw the year's first birthday party. For the 10 kids there who are new to the project in 2016, it was their first FSC fiesta de cumpleaños!

A "train" of little ones (not yet in school) arrive in the party room linked together and repeating, "Choo choo!"

Incredibly, though usually one or two kids are absent any given day, we had 104% attendance at the party. (Ximena, who was in the FSC last year, came just for the day because her mother was in the hospital with her new baby sister.)

As our youngest FSC birthday boy, Alex had the honor of going first. Despite Carmen's coaching he barely touches the piñata.

 Interns Adam and Amalyah and several Pop Wuj students joined us. After the little ones finished lightly tapping at their clown piñata, Julia and Lynchy (who have birthdays between January and April) each had a turn. We usually spin each piñata hitter who's old enough once for every year they've been alive. Fourth year medical student Lynchy watched Julia get blindfolded and spun around 23 times and announced that he turned 15 this year.

Even blindfolded, Lynchy makes short work of the little ones' piñata.

The little ones rush in to collect candy and peanuts.

We brought two piñatas—a clown for the little ones and a monkey for the school-age kids. Several of them who are old enough to read cried, "Jorge!" when they saw their piñata. Jorge el Curioso (Curious George) is a popular series at the FSC.

Amy turned 6 this year and told us that she didn't want to use the blindfold. Because she was the youngest of the school-age kids, we foolishly let her at the piñata without it. 

The instant that her bat first smashed into the piñata we knew that we we had made a mistake. Fortunately Jorge survived for the rest of the birthday kids' turns!

The piñata survived enough for Arturo, our oldest and last birthday kid, to have his turn. But we barely managed to keep all the kids alive, as they kept diving to pick up stray candy while someone was still wildly swinging a bat! 

One of our General Projects Coordinator, Amalyah, made vanilla and chocolate cakes and cream cheese frosting from scratch. All the birthday kids gathered around for the birthday song and candles.

Most of these birthday kids know that cake is serious business. Though Amy seems quite alarmed!

We finished our festivities with party favors for everyone and gifts for the birthday kids. (Carmen had to purchase some last-minute candy for Ximena's party favor, but we actually had an extra age-appropriate gift on hand for her. We weren't sure when Andrea's birthday was and so prepared a backup present that came in very handy when Andrea's birthday turned out to be in November and Ximena's in February!)

Zulmy and Amy open their gifts.

Before the party was even over, kids were asking when we'd be having the next one. Not until August! But we've got other great activities to anticipate before then.

Robyn and Amalyah's Exclusive Goodbye Interview

Text by Amalyah Leader and Robyn Nielsen

Left: Amalyah reads with Andrea at the Family Support Center. She designed and led a number of fantastic activities for the kids in Llanos del Pinal. Right: Robyn wields a machete on a stove-building morning. Her background in global health drew her especially to safe stoves and nutri, where she distinguished herself in developing excellent educational materials. 

Amalyah and Robyn finished their three-month internships with Pop Wuj as General Projects Coordinators last Friday. Luckily, before they left, an anonymous Xela journalist got the chance to sit down with the two and ask the pressing questions we've all been dying to ask.

If you were a salad, what type of dressing would you have?

Robyn: An organic, rosemary-infused, 100-year-old Italian balsamic reduction with a hint of lavender honey harvested from free-range bees. Or ranch. 

Amalyah: Avocado, lemon, garlic, olive oil dressing.

What was your favorite project to work on and why? 

R: The safe stove project. From seeing young children in the nutrition program with respiratory problems and standing in smoke-filled kitchens during the interview process, it's obvious how much of a positive impact the project has. Particularly in terms of improving respiratory health among women and children. I enjoyed being a part of the whole process from being trained to build stoves, conducting interviews, hearing the women's stories, material buying day, stove meeting day, the stove benefit dinner, and each time we went out to build. I like working with my hands to create something and enjoy the comradery that building stoves creates. Also, there's pretty views from people's roofs when it's time to install the chimney. 

What is your fondest memory of being at Pop Wuj?

A: The process of meeting all of the women in the current stove group to building stoves with them. From interviewing them to finishing their stove, I got to listen to many women share stories of incredible strength and courage. There is always an immense amount of laughter and good humor building stoves with Carmelina and the families. And two of our interns officially got married in Llanos! (Congrats Adam and Chris!!) These will always be happy memories to remember. 

When you're not at Pop Wuj working, what are you most likely doing?

A: Sleeping, eating, or climbing volcanos. 

R: Eating chicharrones and standing in the cheese section of Paiz. Simultaneously. 

Favorite hideaway places in Xela?

A: Baul!! It’s so hard to find a place to be in nature alone, but I love climbing up in the early mornings. 

R: I have a secret balcony. 

Favorite Thursday night dinner?

R: Mojitos. And burritos. 

A: Gotta agree, those mojitos were pretty good.

Is there life after Pop Wuj?

R: Pop Wuj is life.

So what’s next?

R: First I’m traveling around Guatemala with my mother, and then I’m going to hang out in Belize and then I will be visiting Cuba. Then I will return home to Seattle for a job with a travel company.

A: I’m going to stick around Xela, you’ll probably see me around. I’m going to teach some English and might teach flamenco. And I’m going to study Spanish again! And hype myself up for going back to college this fall.

Editor's Note: Even though they can be ridiculous, we're grateful to Robyn and Amalyah for their three months of hard work in the projects and wish them all the best. We'll miss you!

Know someone who might be interested in committing three months to support Pop Wuj's social, educational, environmental, and health projects? Check out EntreMundos, which facilitates our internship program.

Vamos Adelante! Our Safe Stoves Benefit Dinner

Text by Adam Wohlman

On Thursday, April 21 Pop Wuj hosted a benefit dinner to raise money for the Safe Stoves Project, currently operating in the communities of Llanos del Pinal and Xecaracoj, which was attended by nearly 65 people! If you’re unfamiliar with the project, Pop Wuj has been building safe stoves in the rural communities surrounding Xela for almost 24 years, as both a response to common respiratory illnesses associated with cooking over an open fire in an enclosed space and the inefficiency of such fires and their contribution to deforestation. Furthermore, respiratory illnesses are currently the leading cause of death among children in Guatemala. Having recently completed community interviews with potential participants, selected our newest group of beneficiaries, and purchased construction materials, our goal for the evening was to raise additional funds in order to send out stove building teams a bit more frequently. We want to build 50 stoves in 2016!

The night was planned and executed by our team of interns, including Robyn, Chris, Amalyah, and myself, along with the support and guidance of the extraordinary Carmelina. As our guests arrived, they were greeted by an array of lively Latin beats (I saw plenty of dancing) and our experienced bartender, Robyn, who served up fresh, made-to-order mojitos all night long, which were a huge hit. Just before dinner there was a short screening of this brief documentary (check it out!!) to further familiarize our guests with the project, and then everyone hit the burrito bar. Carmencita, Director of Social Projects, and Mynor, chief stove engineer, shared their 20+ years of experience and insights working in the project, from its initial development, support, and evolution to today, and the night concluded with an hour of live music performed by several current students from the Pop Wuj language school.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that we raised more than Q1,700 quetzales and will now be able to double the number of construction groups that we send out to build stoves every week! This means that we will be able to complete all necessary construction among the current group of beneficiaries twice as fast as we anticipated and begin identifying the next group of participants much sooner than expected, ultimately serving more people in need. You won't want to miss our next fundraiser!

Robyn was once in a 'bubble letter' club #skillz

The spread! (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Pop Wuj Safe Stoves Project documentary screening. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Bartender extraordinaire Robyn held down the mojito bar all night. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Interested in joining our students in supporting the Safe Stove Project? You can donate online through Foundation Todos Juntos and read lots more on blog posts tagged "safe stoves."

Choosing a New Future

Text by Amalyah Leader

Pictures by Robyn Neilsen

500 years ago, the Spanish invaded Central America. Coming down from Mexico, they entered Guatemala looking for gold and rich resources. Their aim was to make it to a city called Xelaju (now Quetzaltenango), but they had heard that on the very same side of the volcano there was an area in which there was a bountiful forest and rich water resources. This community was what we now call Llanos del Pinal, due to the abundance of Pinabet trees. It was in this community that the Spanish first invaded, massacring with fire arms, riding on horses with a sense of conquest. The Spanish stripped the land and families of their belongings, resources, and knowledge. It was at this moment that dependence was invented by the Spanish and poverty ensued. From this moment came malnutrition, lack of education, and halt in the development that was going on in the Mayan society. It was in this community that the Spanish realized the trauma of colonization in Guatemala.

Carmen welcomes our new group of stove families.

One of the youngest beneficiaries in the group enjoys lunch.

On Friday, a group of women from Llanos del Pinal that now make up our new stove group came to Pop Wuj and sat together in a circle. Along with the participation of my fellow interns, Carmencita, Roney, Mynor, and Carmelina, we initiated a meeting that lasted all morning. Together we talked about the health problems that can be caused from smoke over open fires, the importance of organizing themselves, the importance of recycling, and our love for atol!
Women in Guatemala are the foundation of the family and become the strength that holds it together. These mothers, sisters, daughters from Llanos del Pinal came with their courage and compassion to make a better life for their families and communities. As one of the women generously shared with the group, she wants a stove for her children so that they don’t have to live with the terrible health problems that affect especially the women and children in the household when cooking over an open fire. She wants for her children to have more opportunities. Cooking over an open fire has serious health effects. Children have a higher probability of malnutrition, terrible burns especially for children can happen accidentally and lead to other more chronic health problems. Without a healthy body a child can fall behind in school and have much more difficulty studying. Without an education, one remains in ignorance and communities remain dependent and easily manipulated. The cycle of poverty continues.

Pop Wuj Medical Spanish Program participants Lauren Cantwell and Angel Chu speak to the group about the health risks associated with open cookfires and the benefits of safe stoves. Bringing health education to projects other than the clinic and nutrition program adds a new dimension to medical volunteering. 

The women listen to the health presentation.

But these women have said no to this system of power. They have decided to fight for the future of their children, for themselves, and for their community and it is an honor to be working along with them. It is in this meeting that one can see all of Pop Wuj’s projects working together in unison. How the recycling project affects the stove project, the stove project affects the medical project, the medical project the scholarship project, and the scholarship project the Family Support Center. Pop Wuj’s resources gives these women the opportunity to realize their fight.

Roney discusses deforestation and the environment.

During Ronny’s brief cultural competency to the stove group, he talked about deforestation and the lack of water that Llanos now deals with: “We have forgotten what our Abuelitos have taught us. People wonder, with all the projects of reforestation that are now in Guatemala, why we still have so much deforestation. But what we have forgotten, is that a tree signifies life.  Our Abuelitos taught us that when we enter the forest to cut down a tree or to plant a tree we first must ask the earth for permission. To cut down one tree we must plant 10 trees. We must never forget what our Abuelitos taught us because it is in these stories that we have many lessons left to learn."

Each stove recipient receives a photo of herself in her "before" kitchen to kick off the process.

Tomorrow all the families and interns will meet again at Pop Wuj for a long morning of buying, loading, and delivering stove materials, and on Friday we'll start building!