StoveTeam Blog

Nancy Featured in PeaceCorps Magazine

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:34:00 GMT

StoveTeam works with Peace Corps volunteers in Central America, and they have been an amazing help to spread the word about fuel-efficient stoves. The Peace Corps featured Nancy Hughes in their spring issue of their WorldView magazine. Here's the story.

Peace Corps Worldview Profiles (Spring 2012 issue)

UO Addresses Security Concerns in Honduras

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:54:00 GMT

University of Oregon Alternative Breaks Program Addresses Safety Concerns in Honduras:

March 7, 2012

RE: Safety and security for Alternative Spring Break Honduras

We at The Holden Center realize that there has been an increase in news coverage about Honduras recently. Concern for safety and security issues in Honduras has been spurred by two particular events:

• An October 2011 United Nations report on crime and drugs ranking Honduras as having the highest per capita homicide rate in the world.

• Peace Corps’s decision in January 2012 to pull out its volunteers while conducting an administrative review of the safety and security of its operation.

Given these recent events, we have been diligent in taking every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of our students on this particular program. To be clear, we would not continue with this particular trip if it were deemed too dangerous for travelers, visitors, and/or volunteers. While the U.S. State Department has listed information about safety and security concerns when travelling to Honduras (as they do with every other country), they have not issued a Travel Alert or Travel Warning for Honduras. If that status should change between now and trip departure, we would initiate cancellation of the trip.

Travel information for Honduras can be found at travel.state.gov.

Impact of Peace Corp Decision: StoveTeam International, our community partner for the Honduras alternative break experience, is an established organization within the specific region of Copán Ruinas, Honduras—the host town for our experience. Here is an announcement from StoveTeam about the Peace Corps situation:

“Many of you have heard the news today that the Peace Corps is pulling out of Honduras due to the drug trade that has been such a problem. We as volunteers can witness and attest even better that as to Copan...nothing has changed...on the contrary, our contacts there feel the town has now a feeling of calmer spirits and less overt stress...and are looking forward to a full holiday season of visitors and business for the winter months. World travel is always fascinating, but even if one travels on the freeways in the United States one has to assume some element of risk. Thanks to all of us who are making choices to help, the world will be a better and safer place for everyone.” –Statement from StoveTeam International on 12/23/11.

Additionally, we trust the wisdom of the Peace Corps—understanding that the safety of each of their volunteers must be paramount in their decision making. However, we believe a distinct factor in their decision to withdraw comes from the reality that their volunteers are scattered across remote areas of the country, living on their own and working independently. As is standard practice on our alternative break experiences, our student team will stay together throughout the trip—joined by several experienced StoveTeam staff members and volunteers who have developed strong connections with the people of Copán Ruinas. In fact, the Assistant Director of the Holden Center, Chris Esparza, traveled to Honduras in November 2011 in preparation for the spring break trip with UO students.

Safety in Copán Ruinas: Copán Ruinas is a small town of under 10,000 residents (most estimates are in the 6,000 to 8,000 range) about 7mi from the Guatemalan border. The town is small enough to be safe, yet large and touristy enough to offer basic comforts and resources. Copán Ruinas is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Mayan Site of Copán). Copán Ruinas and other similar tourist destinations in Honduras are known to have a much lower crime rate than other parts of the country. There are certain risks when traveling abroad to a developing country like Honduras. But, we believe almost all incidences can be avoided by taking certain precautions and by using common sense. First, most of the crime in Honduras is directed towards those involved in the drug trade or gangs. Volunteers are rarely targeted, especially when traveling in groups. Second, crime in Honduras ‐ and in just about any country ‐ is localized in certain geographic regions. The overwhelming majority of the crime happens in specific neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba‐areas where we will not take our students. The town, Copán Ruinas, where our students will travel to is located in a quiet and relatively peaceful area, outside of the major cities listed above. Our community partner‐‐StoveTeam International‐‐has built relationships with the locals in Copán, including a network of Rotary International members who have been very welcoming and committed to looking out for the safety of our students.

Precautionary Steps: To help verify safety and precautionary steps taken by the Alternative Break Program, we recently initiated a call to the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. The State Department office validated the steps we’ve taken to minimize safety risks (e.g. enrolled our group in the SMART traveler program and instructed our group on common‐sense behaviors and choices pertaining to materials and possessions). They also reinforced that the crime in Honduras has not been targeted specifically at U.S. citizens. In this conversation, we received specific in‐country contact information (police and the U.S. Embassy) in case of an emergency. Our UO team has several Spanish speakers to manage this potential communication. Additionally, we received communication from Katherine Ordonez, Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, which validated our assumptions and precautions thus far.

The following are standard safety considerations we make for all participants on our international trips, including Alternative Break Honduras:

• We advise and require our students to stay together as a group, using the same common sense that they would in any high crime area in the U.S.

• We advise students to avoid dressing in a way that could mark them as an affluent tourist (e.g. not wearing expensive‐looking jewelry, not carrying large sums of money or displaying cash, ATM/credit cards, or other valuables, etc.).

• We have arranged to stay in a local hotel that is staffed 24hrs/day by a bilingual, on‐site owner/manager.

• We have arranged for security on our transfers to and from the airport (San Pedro Sula to/from Copán Ruinas). Airport transfers will occur during daylight hours using a privately owned tour bus company.

• We have registered each of participants with the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). Not only does this inform the U.S. Embassy about our impending arrival/trip, it provides an additional measure of communication in the case of an emergency.

The official US Embassy‐Tegucigalpa web page, where you can find recent and past years’ Messages for U.S. Citizens released by the Embassy: http://honduras.usembassy.gov/infotravelers.html

Additional information/resources: Please explore the links below to find resources and publications of other current and upcoming travel to Honduras. There are a number of other university groups traveling to Honduras for 2012 Spring Break:

• University of Denver: http://www.duclarion.com/lifestyles/seniors‐to‐aid‐honduras‐during‐break‐1.2799160#.T1a5rXIzTxs

• Tulane University thru Global Medical Brigades: http://www.globalbrigades.org/

• California State University at Bakersfield thru Global Medical Brigades: http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x1275887764/Education‐roundup‐CSUB‐student‐medical‐group‐headed‐to‐Honduras

There are recent student testimonials posted regarding Honduras:

• At this link one can read a story in which two University of Arizona graduate students reflect on the Peace Corps’ decision to temporarily withdraw its volunteers from Honduras: http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/index.php/article/2012/02/volunteers_reflect_on_leaving_honduras

• At this link one can watch a video addressing safety and security concerns in Honduras. It was put together by Students Helping Honduras on a recent trip they took in January, 2012: http://youtu.be/EqAfnEt3XhY.

There are also several volunteer and mission projects traveling to Honduras during March 2012:

• March 2‐9 / San Marcos. Medical, dental, and eyecare mission by Cape CARES of East Orleans, Massachusetts.
• March 3‐10 / Rancho El Paraíso (Olancho). Medical, education, and construction mission by the Priebe Physical Therapy Group of Rochester, Minnesota, sponsored by Honduras Outreach, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia.

• March 10‐17 / Tegucigalpa (Francisco Morazán). Education and training mission by Gardner Webb University of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in partnership with New Life Deaf Ministry.

• March 10‐17 / Rancho El Paraíso (Olancho). Medical, education, and construction mission by Smoke Rise Baptist Church of Stone Mountain, Georiga, sponsored by Honduras Outreach, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia.

• March 16‐23 / Tegucigalpa (Francisco Morazán). Construction mission by Hillsboro Church of Christ of Nashville, Tennessee.

• March 18‐24/ Danlí (El Paraíso). Medical mission from the Global Medical Brigades chapter at the University of Denver, Colorado.

• March 21‐29 / Choluteca (Choluteca). Construction mission by Oakdale Baptist Church of Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

• March 24‐31 / Rancho El Paraíso (Olancho). Medical, education, and construction mission by the Wilderness Team sponsored by Honduras Outreach, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia.

• March 25‐31/ Honduras. Medical mission by California State University at Bakersfield, sponsored by Global Medical Brigades of Fresno, California.

(Source: Volunteer Missions Calendar http://hondurasweekly.com/missions-calendar/):

In summary, we continue to anticipate safe and incident‐free trips for each of our international alternative break programs, including Honduras. While we cannot necessarily guarantee complete safety for our international participants, we remain confident our preparation leading up to these trips minimizes our risk and increases the personal security of our students.

About Anibal

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:35:00 GMT

Copan Ruinas factory owner Anibal's story is quite amazing. Here is an update from Nancy during the alternative spring break trip there with 22 University of Oregon students:

"I have been having a great time with Rosanna (Anibal's wife), who is indeed a jewel! She told me today that before we showed up on the scene that Anibal had had 95% of the votes of the members of the community in his campaign for mayor. A narco-trafficer then brought in loads of people from the mesquita coast and from other parts of Honduras and paid each of them 500 lempiras per vote. Many of the votes were also fraudulent, and others just purchased. Anyway, the narco-trafficer is now the mayor of Copan Ruinas, but there is nothing they can do about it.

Anibal was in severe depression after that experience and was spending from 6-9pm every day just lying in his hammock staring at the ceiling. Rosanna still had her job, but it was not enough to support them. Anibal tried hard to figure out what to do but couldn't come up with anything other than possibly making candles in the shape of Mayan sculptures. Things were extremely bad for them, but Rosanna told me she just told him, "When God closes a door, it's because he has something better in mind for you." All Anibal wanted to do was to protect the river and protect the people of Copan. He just wanted to help in any way possible. He didn't need money as much as he needed a way to help people, even though the family needed another income.

When Rina called him with the proposal of a stove factory, Rosanna said his eyes lit up, he regained his dignity, and he started to organize the factory. She said it was a gift from heaven. He is now so engaged that she is thrilled for him and for the family. He has been so great with the students, has made sure everyone has an opportunity to see what they wanted to see - the pre-med students have been taken to a medical clinic to observe, the future English teachers have been taken to Eduardo's school (Anibal's son) to see about their program of volunteer teachers, the biology kids have gone to the bird park, and the students who have never been out of the country have gone to the market with Rosanna to buy the food and piñatas for the village fiesta. Eduardo has organized three soccer games with his friends and the UO students as well. Two of the girls were so anxious to complete the new roof yesterday that they put up their own money to buy the last 32 roofing tiles and came back after the factory was closed, got out the ladder, and finished the roof. The kids have been so happy with the women who have cooked lunch for them every day on the ecocina, that they have arranged to buy them each a pair of new shoes."

Once Upon a Stove in Mexico

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:09:00 GMT

On Friday, March 23rd our very good friends, Yoli and Victor Del Rio, hosted, in their lovely home, a traditional Mexican comida featuring Enchaladas Rojas together with all the trimmings. And the stars of the event were two of the healthful, efficient, practical and ever versatile Ecocina Stoves! Over 50 guests were in attendance and $12,000 pesos was raised to assist with the purchase of an Ecocina Stove for each of the elderly folks served by Antonette & Joe Lim of So Others May Eat, a project that they have been selflessly running in San Miguel for over 23 years. Thank you to the many who made donations toward the cause and to those that attended the event. Thank you to the lovely ladies who cooked the delicious meal and to our good friends who volunteered as servers. And a very special thank you to Yoli and Victor who worked tirelessly and with great enthusiasm to make this event possible.

-Sharon Doherty

A very special thank you to John and Sharon Doherty, who tirelessly work as volunteers to promote clean cookstoves in the San Miguel de Allende area.

Notes from Guatemala

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:57:00 GMT

I am so impressed with Marco Tulio's work and what he’s doing at his factory. Mason and I spent the day with him (8am until 4pm) and we checked the entire stove variety and learned more about his process. His sales have not been enormous, but in addition to establishing an impressive factory, he has produced around 175 stoves per month of various types. All seem to be well made and are being distributed.

He is currently offering:

1. A large school stove made somewhat like a nixtamalera on a stand. He's only sold around 15 as a pilot project, but they are well received in the Uspantan area.

2. A better version of the Onil stove. His stove has shelves on each side that are stable and well made. (We saw the Onil stove with its new wings - but they look unstable and weird in comparison.)

3. The Ecocina - the smallest and least expensive of the stoves, and they are currently repairing the molds for a new order. These are mostly sold in the coastal areas and he has an order with the University of San Carlos that is pending. These are for a project in the Peten with 16 students used as promoters.

4. His Hybrid stove made with a smaller Ecocina front with a plancha on the rear, but with a chimney. He's sold quite a few in the past 4 months. This is currently the top seller.

Nancy

Painting a school in La Cieneguita

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:43:00 GMT

Every group of StoveTeam volunteers helps at a factory or helps in the local community. On this trip we were asked to help by painting a new preschool in the community of La Cieneguita near our new factory.

La Cieneguita was very anxious to have a school for their children located closer to home. However, the community is located outside of San Miguel de Allende, and there is no governmental support for a school building. Thus, the community gathered together and built the school themselves.

Then they had to find a teacher. Again, as they are located outside of San Miguel de Allende near the town of Cieniguitas, there was no government funding for a teacher's salary. The community again found a solution.

They found a local community organization to pay for the teacher's salary. Since the salary is meager, the teacher comes on Monday and stays with a different family each night to save on transportation costs. Collectively the community is paying her lodging and meals to show their support for their childrens' education. This has been working well, and recently they decided to build a preschool.

They have worked on this project for a year and a half, and now the school has been completed and painted inside and out. The outside is painted in good Oregon Duck colors - yellow and green-by our StoveTeam volunteers. Now it's just a matter of finding another teacher, but knowing the community of La Cieneguita, they'll find a solution.

Are the dangers in Mexico different from those in the USA?

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:04:00 GMT

Here's a post from our trip leader who returned from San Miguel de Allende last night…

We are all safe and sound and most are back home again, but the return adventure sounded exciting, and we thought you'd like to know that this was the only danger we experienced in beautiful Mexico!

At least half of us are back in Oregon by now enjoying the rain and cold weather after our "Indiana Jones" adventure ride to the airport! For those of you that missed it, we had quite a thrilling bus ride. The bus drivers didn't exactly know the route to the airport and after a series of wrong turns, asking a taxi driver for directions, side swiping a vehicle and making a left turn into another vehicle, we walked the remaining distance to the terminal with our luggage in tow! There were no casualties…only a broken camera which flew out of my hands while trying to take a picture of this unbelievable scenario when we impacted the second car!

From the new factory near San Miguel de Allende

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:49:00 GMT

Our group of hearty volunteers has, today, completed the baseline study known as a "kitchen performance test". We visited families who cook over open fires and weighed the amount of wood they use every day. We also weighed their propane tanks, which was quite a task, but today each of the families received an Ecocina stove in return for allowing us in their homes for testing.

All of this was followed by a fiesta with a piñata in the village of El Tigre, attended by Rotarians from San Miguel, the teacher at the school, and nearly everyone in the village.

Good work StoveTEAM!

Meeting with stove people in den Haag

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:05:00 GMT

Hi,

Despite the cold weather and fog, we had an extremely productive meeting for the past three days in den Haag. We worked with both the American National Standards Institute and the International Organization for Standardization to set up specific standards for testing cookstoves. At this point we have a working document showing the standards we can all agree upon now, and this document will be used as an initial basis for testing fuel-efficient stoves.

There were over 80 of us here working on revising the document initially prepared by a testing working group. There were people from Nepal, from various countries in Africa, from China, from Peru and Bolivia, and of course representatives from Central America.

The event was sponsored by the EPA Partnership for Clean Indoor Air and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Their current focus is to assist with the establishment of regional testing centers for stoves and to disseminate the information about the health dangers of indoor open-fire cooking.

They announced that a new health study will be published shortly showing that there are now even more deaths due to indoor open fire cooking than previously thought.

Help us put an end to this horrific problem that mostly affects women and children.

Women Helping Women: Nancy Receives Ruby Award

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:06:00 GMT

Last night the Soroptimist International of Junction City honored Nancy with the Ruby Award for her work on behalf of women in Mexico and Central America. This award is named for the first federation president of Soroptimist International, Ruby Lee Minar. The award honors women who are working to improve the lives of women and girls in their community or abroad.

Thank you, Soroptimists of Junction City!

Hands-On Learning for UO Students

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:06:00 GMT

When I attended University of Oregon, spring break was, for me, simply a chance to briefly unwind from a stressful winter term (which usually meant catching up on sleep and then taking off for a couple of days to go skiing). Now UO students have a special opportunity to have a fun AND meaningful spring break through the UO's Alternative Break Program with the Holden Leadership Center. Through these service learning trips students travel to exciting places (Jamaica! Honduras! Dominican Republic!) and do great work, too.

This year, StoveTeam is privileged to be a part of UO's Alternative Breaks program. In less than a month we're taking 20 undergraduates to Copan Ruinas, Honduras along with four UO educational partners and several StoveTeam volunteers. We'll spend a week doing kitchen performance tests, construction projects at the factory, and immersing ourselves in Honduran culture (and of course, practicing our Spanish). The students have been meeting weekly to prepare.

For the past two Sundays StoveTeam led a 'Stove Camp' to give students a chance to learn about fuel-efficient stoves by getting their hands dirty and actually making one. Led by volunteer (Advisory Board member) Bob Way, students made Ecocinas from start to finish, learning welding, cutting tiles, perfecting their wire-basket-sewing techniques, and making and pouring cement for the stove. We were fortunate to have Dr. Larry Winiarski, designer of the Ecocina, visit each time to teach the students the principles of fuel-efficient stoves. Nancy Hughes and I made hot apple cider, which we (of course) heated on the Ecocina.

You can see photos from Stove Camp on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/StoveTeam

We had a great time and were impressed by this motivated, smart group of students. We're looking forward to our trip with them in a little less than a month!

March Visit to El Tigre, Mexico

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:07:00 GMT

Our volunteer trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico leaves in just two and a half weeks. Rotarian John Doherty lives in San Miguel and has been doing a fabulous job coordinating many important elements of our visit. He recently visited the community where will be working and sent us this update:

The community of El Tigre is located approximately 10 kilometers southeast of San Miguel de Allende. The town is made up of 35 families living in 30 homes.

"The economic conditions seem to be mixed with some families appearing to live under difficult conditions, some families coping, and others doing reasonably well," says John. "It appears that all use open fire/burning stoves of different types...just like in most villages, food that takes time to prepare is cooked on the wood burning stoves and in most cases outside of the family's residence."

According to John, El Tigre was recently connected to the municipal water supply, which has made a huge difference to the families. The community has a lot of pride and has a very good school with a dedicated principal, teacher, and parent working group.

Each day for about a week, volunteers will visit El Tigre to conduct Kitchen Performance Tests in each home to track fuel usage. At the end of the week each family will receive an Ecocina stove; the trip will culminate with a celebration at the school jointly hosted by the community of El Tigre, StoveTeam, and the Rotary Club of San Miguel-Midday. StoveTeam will return later in the year to conduct a second round of Kitchen Performance Tests and find out how the Ecocina is impacting families in El Tigre.

We're looking forward to visiting El Tigre and meeting these families. Thank you for all of your hard work, John!

A Message From San Miguel de Allende

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:32:00 GMT

StoveTeam received this message from Victoria Pierce in San Miguel de Allende this morning. Check out the StoveTeam Facebook page to see the photo.

"This morning I delivered a stove to 'my' family that live outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Ana and her family of 5 were living in a cardboard box like shelter when I found them. I met Ana and her children 6 years ago when she started collecting my trash. For a long time I had no idea how she lived. Over the last couple of years with a team Called "Ana's Angels' we have been able to change the life of this one family. Ana now owns a piece of land and the Mexican Govt. is going to build her a small house similar to the one she is standing in front of right in the picture. The house will be simple, no lights, running water , or bathroom but it will have a roof , floor and a door that locks.. a long way from a cardboard box. The school age children are all in school and doing well. I wish you could have seen Ana's face when we explained that the stove would produce very little smoke and was safe for her small children.. thank you so much for this project. Such a little thing that we take for granted can change the life of an entire family."

-Victoria Pierce

Making a Difference in El Salvador

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:12:00 GMT

Here's some news from El Salvador. Thanks for sending an update, Lillian!

"In January, 2010, a group of parishioners from St. John Neumann Church in Strongsville, Ohio visited Chiltiupan in El Salvador. They returned to Strongsville hoping to raise funds to purchase stoves for the people of Chiltiupan. Money was raised from a "Fiesta" and Fish Fries and sent to Sister Rose Terrell, an Ursuline nun in Chilitiupan, a member of the Cleveland Latin American Mission Team. Sister Rose purchased over 100 Ecocina stoves from Gustavo Pena in Sonsonata.

In January 2012, eleven of our parishioners again visited Chiltiupan. They said the people were very excited about the stoves and how they have changed their lives for the better. They were grateful to the people of St. John Neumann, and their pastor, Father Bob Kraig. Sister Rose plans on purchasing more Ecocinas.

My congratulations to Nancy Sanford Hughes for winning the 2011 Purpose Prize. What a contribution she has made."

-Lillian Tilton

Have you seen first-hand how the Ecocina is improving lives in Mexico and Central America? Send us your observations! Email info@stoveteam.org.

San Miguel de Allende March 2012 Trip Full

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:32:00 GMT

Our March 2012 trip to San Miguel de Allende has filled up quickly! We are very excited about the great group of volunteers going on this trip. We plan to offer more trips to San Miguel de Allende in the future--stay tuned!

If you would like to be placed on the waiting list, please email elly@stoveteam.org.