Ana María and her family live in El Chipotón, a community in the department of Chimaltenango. She and her husband, Moises, have four children. Before financing a new, smokeless stove with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, Ana María used an old stove that filled her kitchen with smoke and used double the amount of wood. In this area, people do not have access to land where they can gather their own wood, so they have to buy wood for cooking and warmth in the markets. Deforestation is an issue in Guatemala and this affects families like Ana María’s. For this reason, having a stove that uses wood efficiently has made a positive impact in Ana María’s life.

She explains how her new stove has changed the amount of wood she must buy to take care of her family: “We use much less wood now. The same amount of wood that used to last for one month now lasts for two months.” Ana María also shares that her old stove was very small, which made it challenging to cook food for her entire family. “I can cook more food now!”, she shares. “And my tortillas turn out really well.”

Rosa Lopez lives with her husband, children, mother-in-law Yolanda, and three brothers-in-law in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Douglas, Rosa’s husband, is a teacher, and his brothers work in agriculture in the surrounding area. When Rosa became pregnant with her youngest son, 5 month old Frank, she and her family decided to partner with Habitat Guatemala to build a new home on their land. Prior to building their new home, they lived in a smaller structure on the same property, but they knew that building a new home would give the new baby and the other children a safe environment in which to grow up.

“We learned about Habitat Guatemala from Doña Emy, the head of the local affiliate.”, explains Yolanda. “Frank, the baby, was the reason we decided to build a new home. Over time, we would like to partner with Habitat again to build more rooms onto our new home.” Rosa says: “We have more space now! Our old walls were made of metal and our new house is made of cement blocks so we are much warmer. Overall, we are more comfortable in our new home.”

Yolanda finishes by saying: “It was a beautiful experience to have the volunteers here with us. We enjoyed having them here! Everything is so good and we are happy to have had the support of Habitat.”

Ramona Yaxon  lives in Sololá, Guatemala, with her husband. Her ten children are married and live with their families, so she and her husband live alone in their house. When her children moved out, they moved the kitchen area into a different part of the house so that they would have more room.

“My old stove worked,” explains Ramona, “but over time it deteriorated. It used a lot of wood and filled the kitchen with smoke.”

“My new stove works perfectly!”, Ramona exclaims. “I can use wood, pine cones, or corn hulls and it burns well. While I cook, my husband sits at a table next to the stove and we talk. We are never far apart.”

Sitting outside in the sun, Ramona talks about her life. “We have some land and my husband grows corn that he sells. And I raise ducks! I used to have pigs too, but one day I fell and hurt my knee. My kids told me I was too old to raise pigs anymore. You need a lot of strength for that! I wanted to raise pigs in my courtyard but they said no. So now I just have ducks.”

Ramona is Maya and in her part of Guatemala the language that is spoken is Kaqchikel. Recently, Ramona shares, she has started studying the Bible with two American Jehovah’s Witnesses missionaries who have given her a Bible in her language. “I lived my whole life without religion.”, Ramona explains. “And I am old but I have asked God for a few more years on earth so that I can enjoy my new stove!”

Ana Isabel Gomez and her husband Damacio live in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. They have two children, Ana Yesenia, and Emeli Jasmin.

While Damacio works in the fields in the surrounding area, Ana Isabel takes care of her home and children. Like many families in this area, work opportunities are limited and those that do exist are low paying. For these reasons, Isabel and Damacio are happy to save money wherever they can.

This is one reason that smokeless stoves are so important to families like the Gomezes. There is a shortage of wood in Guatemala because, during the civil war, the military burned down many villages and the surrounding woods. Families are still feeling the effects of these actions today; many have to travel long distances to gather wood and those that live in towns have to purchase it.

“We save wood with the new stove!”, Ana Isabel says happily. “My old stove was really old, it used up a lot of wood, and there was so much more smoke.” For women like Ana Isabel who spend their time cooking food for their family, this is very important. Cooking over an open flame leads to eye and lung issues and removing the smoke from the cooking area is a simple but effective solution.

Ana Isabel has a message she would like to send to the volunteers who helped build her stove, too. “Thank you so much for coming to build our stove and support our family! We hope you come back soon!”