Chirijkiak Cantel, 07 March 2012

This week, Carmen visited a group of scholarship recipient mothers in Chirijkiak, Cantel. In addition to distributing scholarship funds, we also plan a lesson or discussion topic related to health, study habits, or the social climate. Because el Día de la Mujer was celebrated this week, we had a long discussion about the role of women in the family and in the work force and the change that women can affect. Additionally we opened up the discussion to the problem of domestic violence- our next discussion that will be led by one of Pop Wuj’s volunteers. 

Stoves!

On Wednesday, a group of student volunteers finished the third stage of the stove in the house of Doña Calendaria- the first stove to be completed for our new group of recipients! 

Thursday morning our coordinator and several volunteers completed the second stage of the safe stove in the Guardería. 

February 29, March 1

Over the last two days, our safe stove project volunteers have worked in two different locations- the house of Doña Calendaria and the Guardería. Although the Guardería already has a safe stove, it has expanded in terms of children creating the need for an extra stove to accommodate the needs of the children. Though the plan of the stove for the Guardería has been modified, it still has all of the benefits of our normal safe stoves. The volunteers were able to complete the first stage.

The other location, the house of Doña Calendaria, saw the completion of the second stage with the help of our Projects Coordinator and several student volunteers. Additionally, the students and our coordinator were accompanied by our liaison to the community, Doña Carmelina.

Valentine's Day and Marti Gras!

Today was a special day for the children of the Guardería. We celebrated two special days- Valentine’s Day and Marti Gras! To celebrate Marti Gras (or Carnival), it is a necessity to make the traditional cascarones or eggshells. The children, with the help of the workers at the Guardería, hollowed out the eggs and decorated them with colorful tissue paper. Before sealing the egg with the tissue paper, the children filled the eggs with pika pika-very small, colorful bits of confetti. The volunteers arrived at the Guardería and, after a very warm greeting from the children, hid all of the cascarones in the yard next to the Guardería. 

After all of the eggs had been gathered, the volunteers were very surprised to see all of the children cracking the eggs over as many of their peers’ heads as possible (as is tradition in Guatemala). Of course, the children pulled the volunteers into the game as well.

After everyone was completely covered in colorful paper, the children and the volunteers settled into the classroom so that the children could present the Valentine’s Day cards that they had made for every student at the school. The volunteers happily left the Guardería covered in confetti and holding a handmade card.

Meeting with the mothers of Xeabaj

Carmen and the projects coordinator met with the mothers of Xeabaj, a community removed from Xela. Similar to the first meeting with the women of San Juan, Carmen talked about the importance of encouraging students to study and providing breakfast in the morning to aid in concentration in school.
On the subject of nutrition, Carmen also questioned mothers with children of less than 2 years if they would be interested in our Nutributter nutrition program.

After the meeting, we walked to the school built by one of the padrinos to visit with the students before they left for lunch. Additionally, we met with the teacher to discuss the academic progress of several of the students.

Gathering materials for our new stove recipients

Today our student volunteers, our coordinator, and many new recipients of our safe stoves set out to gather materials for the 14 new stoves we will be building in the community Llanos del Pinal. First our team bought the “planchas” (the stove tops), the metal for the chimneys and the door for the front of the stove. Next the volunteers took a pickup truck to collect all of the bricks and clay necessary for all of the stoves. Finally, before leaving for Llanos del Pinal, the volunteers collected all of the concrete needed for the stoves.

After a short rest, the volunteers and the women of Llanos spent the late morning and afternoon distributing all of the materials to every house. During this process, Carmen and the safe stove coordinator determined the order of the stoves to be built. Some houses needed to repair certain aspects of their construction in order to maximize the benefits of the stove (or even just to fit the stove into the house). 

Meeting with future recipients of the safe stoves

Future recipients of stoves

After finishing all of the initial interviews with potential recipients of our safe stoves Carmen organized a reunion for all of the women to meet at Pop Wuj and learn more about the safe stove process. Today at the reunion with the future recipients of safe stoves, the women learned more about the health, economic, and environmental benefits of the safe stoves. 

Future recipients of stoves

The majority of the women have very young children or grandchildren living in their homes- children are the demographic affected most by smoke inhalation- making them the optimal beneficiaries of stoves.