Travel to Guatemala with StoveTeam's Executive Director, Shelby Kardas

Doña Teresa received the 2nd Justa stove ever built by StoveTeam in Guatemala.

I have just returned from two weeks of travel with StoveTeam’s Board Chair, Kim Forrest, and Christadelphian Meal a Day of the Americas board members to visit all three of our partner projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. I love being in the field because it reminds me WHY we do this work. As we move into the New Year, we wanted to share some of these photos and stories with you. 

Guatemala

During this trip, we visited stove participants to see how these new stoves are changing lives. We visited the home of one of our very first Justa stove recipients in Guatemala, Doña Theresa. She told us that “she loves her new stove because the smoke no longer burns her eyes, and she saves so much wood.”

I was especially excited to participate in a Maestros Comaleros stove builder training academy. The Maestros Comaleros stove builder training academy is an intensive, three-day endeavor that pairs classroom theory with two days of hands-on building. Eighteen stove builders from Guatemala and El Salvador (17 men, and 1 woman) gained skills to educate families about the danger of open-fire cooking, the health and economic benefits of adopting the new stove, and the technical aspects of stove design. I am so impressed with the organization of this training, but mostly with our Guatemalan and El Salvadoran stove builders and trainers who are eager to learn and become masters at their skill. The technical part of this training is being led by 2 of our most successful women stovebuilders, Bety and Anibela.

“I love being in the field because it reminds me WHY we do this work, and it’s wonderful to share our progress with our long-time supporters.”

— Shelby Kardas, Executive Director

Meet the Trainers

Santos, graduated from the Maestros Comaleros training earlier in 2022. Santos has been building stoves in his home community of San Martín Jilotepeque,  and was recently asked to participate in this Maestros Comaleros training as a trainer. When he is not training new stovebuilders, or building new stoves, he is in charge of doing one-week follow-up visits on new stoves to ensure quality control and to collect surveys that help us analyze our adoption.

Click on this link to see Santos in action with several of his trainees building a stove inside a home.

StoveTeam’s women stovebuilders build a justa stove during Maestros Comaleros training

One of StoveTeam’s absolute superstars is Anibela. Our entire group was blown away by her enthusiasm and positive attitude. Watching Anibela work truly shows the nature of the Maestros Comaleros program which is intended not only to provide gainful employment and technical skill, but to encourage entrepreneurship in individuals.

Anibela is also a recent graduate of the Maestros Comaleros program, and due to her amazing work ethic and enthusiasm, she has quickly become one of our best stovebuilders and has been promoted to supervisor and trainer.

Anibela is just one of the women who make up our star stovebuilding team. We know that women are part of the solution, and we are building a stellar team of women stovebuilders and promoters who are essential to encouraging other women to adopt new technology. The best part of the training for me was the graduation. Seeing so many proud and happy faces also made me happy.  

In this photo left to right: Master Stovebuilders & Trainers, Anibela and Bety, new Maestra Comalera, Sylvia, Administrative Assistant in the Guatemala office, Rossi, and Guatemala Operations Director, Waleska.

““In the future, we hope to attract more women to this work, because women are awesome stovebuilders!”

— Alex Eaton, Guatemala Country Director

Soon we will leave Guatemala, and head to Sonsonate, El Salvador to visit the factory of StoveTeam’s long-time factory partner Gustavo Peña. We hope you will continue to join us on this journey. Stay tuned…..

Celebrating StoveTeam’s Women Leaders

Rosemery Vail Hernandez, Master Stove builder, constructs a Justa stove in Guatemala

Sisters: Rosemery Vail Hernandez and Anabela Vail Hernandez 

This year, Rosemery Vail Hernandez and her sister Anabela Vail Hernandez found a new way to give back to their community and improve the health of Guatemalan families: building Justa stoves. 

The sisters aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, demonstrating enthusiasm for the project since the very beginning of their Master Stovebuilder training. They travel to multiple communities each week to develop building plans and construct stoves.

Alex Eaton, Guatemala Country Director said,“

“We have a handful of Maestras Comaleras that love building stoves: Mari, Anabela and Rosemery. They learned very quickly how to build and communicate with local families about the benefits of the Justa stove - but what I love more than anything is their positive attitudes.” 

StoveTeam International aims to continue building a team of women stovebuilders in Guatemala through trainings in 2023 as the Justa stove project expands to more regions of the country.

Anabela Vail Hernandez builds a new Justa stove in a Guatemalan kitchen.

Waleska Santos, Guatemala Operations Director

Waleska Santos, Guatemala Operations Director

This September marked the one-year Anniversary of Waleska's employment with StoveTeam. Waleska has made invaluable contributions to expanding StoveTeam's programs in Guatemala, supervising the launch of new Justa stove projects as well as the Master Stovebuilders (Maestros Comaleros) program. Country Director, Alex Eaton, had this to say about Waleska's contributions:

"It is a pleasure to work alongside Waleska who has grown to be a trusted advisor and partner. She has helped develop the Justa project into an effort that spans Guatemala and is fortified by a robust stovebuilder training program. Waleska is a powerful and intelligent woman who shares her knowledge and skill to bring safer homes to families in Guatemala.”

Waleska shared these words about her experience with StoveTeam so far:

“I am proud to be the Operations Director for the project in Guatemala. I love working for StoveTeam International because the team appreciates what I do and highly values my opinions. I know that they appreciate hard work no matter what experience or education we have. I also love working with people in the communities and doing my bit to help them improve their lives and the lives of their families.”