Ruben and Marta Morales Barrios

“There are many economic benefits and advantages. I find it incredible that one little piece of wood will last the whole night, and the grill will still stay hot.” These words belong to Ruben Morales Barrios (54), a proud new owner of a Habitat Guatemala smokeless stove. “We used to buy four bundles of wood, which was 200 Quetzales ($30), which lasted about a season.” He smiles knowingly. “We haven’t used up our first bundle of wood yet.”

Ruben and his wife, Marta (60), built the stove with Habitat Guatemala volunteers a few months ago, and it has made all the difference. They live in Aldea las Pilas, a small village located about twenty minutes from the main town of Retalhuleu. Although Ruben and Marta have a loving family, they have struggled. Their old cooking stove had many issues.

“Our old stove was a grill on top of blocks,” she says. “Smoke leaked out of it, there was no chimney. It felt like we were cooking in the ground. For twenty years, we were like this.”

Marta touches her head, recalling the ailments that she suffered while using their previous stove. “I would get sick from the smoke. I would burn myself from the direct heat coming off the stove. Once in awhile, I went to the health clinic, but it was too expensive to buy medicine.”

When the time came to build their new stove, Marta and Ruben had the support of their neighbors and volunteers. “All the women in our community cut the block and mixed mortar together,” describes Marta. “Then, in one day, the group of volunteers came and built three stoves for our community.”

“The group was ready to work, to help,” adds Ruben. “They all danced and joked, and they were hardworking. It was a blessing to work with them. They are always welcome, and we send them our greetings, for all the work that they did.”

Both Marta and Ruben are dedicated to developing their community into a better place, and Habitat Guatemala has helped. “We came to know Habitat Guatemala because they came to us about three years ago with this roof repair project that had affordable monthly payments,” recalls Ruben. “Now, we help more people get involved with these projects through our local committee. Habitat Guatemala has stayed with us. It has been a blessing to work with them for three years.”

Since then, life has gotten sweeter for the couple, who are are still very much in love. “We are married until death,” jokes Ruben. For over two decades, they have dedicated themselves to raising their two children, Oseas (17) and Karen (20), to study at university. “Any extra money that we save goes to our children’s studies,” affirms Marta.

Reflecting on the experience, Marta and Ruben express how grateful they are to the group and the opportunities to improve her family’s life. “Thanks to God, Habitat Guatemala exists to use its power to help other people. God is doing his work through them, blessing all of the people of Guatemala. They motivate us to make more advances, to make more change. They are a great help.”

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Maria Perez Villatoro

“My husband died seventeen years ago,” whispers Maria Perez Villatoro (57). She sits with her hands clasped under the pale sunlight of early afternoon. “But I have three boys.”

As a single mother, Maria has faced great difficulty in the past. In addition to raising three children on her own, for years, she cooked with an unsteady device made of wood that leaked copious amounts of smoke. The method took an impacting toll on her health. “It hurt my body so much that I have to see a specialist in Quetzaltenango, which is two hours away,” she says. “My lungs are black. That’s what the doctors have told me. I still go in for exams, getting up at 4A.M. to arrive on time for my appointments there.”

Maria knew that she had to replace her stove, but felt wary about the anticipated costs. She had no job and depended on her sons, Israel, Edras, and Alex to find work. They still support her as she grows older. However, money always worried her; she was spending 50 Quetzales ($7.00) on wood each day and had little options that would let her reduce the costs.

Luckily, she found a solution to her economic situation thanks to a visit from Habitat Guatemala. “The organization originally arrived to our village asking if we wanted our roofs repaired about three years ago,” Maria says. “They told us all about their programming and how it was affordable.” Both Maria and her older sister, Marta, who lived in the same community, thought that the payments were reasonable and decided to get involved. They have remained dedicated to Habitat Guatemala’s work as both participants and advocates.

“I went to their office to pick up the laminate for my roof two years ago,” recalls Maria. “Three months ago, I had my stove built by them. For us, the stove is happiness. I like it a lot.”

The new stove has afforded Maria opportunities that she had never imagined. “I still have a cough, but it’s getting better,” she tells us. From the money that she saves on fuel, she puts towards her healthcare costs. “I take a bit of medicine, two little pills, which helps.”

She describes the construction process as highly collaborative and memorable. “We built the new stove in one afternoon. It was a group of women, together, who cut the blocks, mixed mortar, mud, and earth,” she remembers. Then, a group of hardworking international volunteers arrived to help put the pieces together.

“The group was friendly, happy. What was that song that they were singing and dancing to?” she asks her neighbor, Lionel. “Despacito,” he responds. He begins humming the tune, and Maria joins in, gentle contentment on her face. “Some of them spoke Spanish,” she adds. “They joked and danced.”

During a meeting with a village committee, Julia and her husband, Gabriel, first discovered Habitat for Humanity Guatemala’s Healthy Home Kits. They learned that the kit featured a smokeless stove, a sanitary latrine, and a water filter. It would provide them ample opportunity to improve their living conditions. After hearing these testimonials, Julia and Gabriel decided to participate.

Flash forward a few months later, Julia affirms Healthy Home Kits are helpful for families in need. She notes the changes in her family’s day-to-day life. Her new smokeless stove ventilates plumes of smoke out of her home, fostering a healthier kitchen environment. This scene is an enormous contrast with her old stove, which was built by another nonprofit organization, but failed to fulfil her needs. Composed of a few stacked blocks with a small grill on top, the old stove proved to be highly inefficient. There was no chimney. As a result, the room easily filled with smoke when Julia cooked, negatively affecting her health and putting her family at risk.

Julia’s new stove is bigger and easier to use, as well as economically helpful. She notes, the stove has saved her a tremendous amount of time, fuel, and money.“The most important thing about the new stove is that it consumes less firewood,” she remarks. By using less logs to fire up the stove, Julia’s family can save extra money, which Julia spends on “small pleasures” to brighten everyday life. “Like buying a chicken for Sunday lunch or new kitchen utensils to replace the old ones,” she explains, a smile tugging at her lips.

Saving money also allows Gabriel to buy new fabric, threads and needles for his needlework. When he returns from his work in the fields, Gabriel not only sews as a form of hobby. He also sells his work as an extra form of income, allowing the family to support itself.

Apart from the smokeless stove, the new latrine built by Habitat Guatemala volunteers works well. It is cleaner and safer for Julia and her husband. Their previous latrine had been built fifteen years ago and had fallen into disrepair. The ventilation system no longer worked. For that reason, it had become dirty and smelly, due to an unwanted proliferation of bacteria. Now, Julia’s new latrine fosters a cleaner and more private space,

Julia reflects, “I am happy with the Healthy Home Kit, and I am grateful to the group of volunteers who helped us.”

Carmen Choy

As rain falls down in sheets and lightning flashes, Carmen (74) stands in her kitchen, trying to warm up with the heat of her stove. She lives here with her son, Juan Carlos (48), who is blind. They are part of an indigenous Maya community that only speaks Kaqchikel, which is a commonly spoken local dialect in the Sololá Department of Guatemala. Carmen wears traditional clothing that her daughter made for her. These items are woven by hand and then dyed with natural colors extracted from plants. The colors, patterns, and geometric shapes of her “huipil” or blouse hold special significance in Maya culture.

This scene would have been impossible just months before. After warming herself up, Carmen reveals that she is pleased with her new smokeless stove for a multitude of reasons. She says proudly: “My new stove is bigger. I can cook several dishes at the same time.” She explains that the old stove was smaller and emitted a lot of smoke. When she prepares meals, she is no longer affected by smoke fumes, which negatively impacted her and Juan Carlos’s health.

Carmen learned about smokeless stoves as part of Habitat for Humanity Guatemala’s Healthy Home Kit program. Thanks to a promoter, who came to her community and gave a presentation to her neighbors, she found herself immediately interested. It would be an opportunity to significantly improve her family’s living conditions, despite previous attempts.

Three years ago, another nonprofit organization offered a latrine to Carmen. But soon after constructing it, the latrine quickly fell apart. The interior space became dilapidated, and the ventilation system failed. As a result, the space was dirty, and the environment, miserable. At that point, Carmen decided not to use it anymore, eliminating her access to sanitary services.

For these reasons, Carmen is glad to have a new latrine. During the construction, she specifically asked to the site manager to dig the hole wider than planned, in order to extend the use of her latrine. Her reasoning? “I wanted it to last as long as possible.” She also notes that the new latrine is much cleaner and offers her more privacy than she had before.

Carmen also uses a water filter now. Her family no longer suffers from stomach pains, which were caused by bacteria in the river water that they used to drink.

Most of all, Carmen is grateful to the group of volunteers who came to help her. “I won’t ever forget the work of the group. Every day when I use my stove, the water filter or the latrine, I remember their kindness.”

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Miriam Ajcalong Xep

“Tortillar” (making tortillas) is a precious tradition that runs in Miriam’s family. As a child, Miriam used to prepare tortillas with her mother, whose own mother had taught her. The skill has been passed down throughout generations.

Now, Miriam lives with her mother and her two daughters, Miriam (9) and Astrid (2). She still makes tortillas, which she sells to her neighbors and at the market to earn her living. Although she makes 150 tortillas daily, Miriam only earns 30 to 35 quetzales (equivalent to $4.20 to 4.90).

To meet the demand for her tortillas, Miriam must use a stovetop surface to grill them. Before participating in Habitat for Humanity Guatemala’s Healthy Home Kit project, she used to share the stove with her mother and always needed to wait until her mother had made her own tortillas before using it. However, one day, that all changed. “When the neighborhood committee came to my door to tell me that I could have my own stove, I was so glad,” Miriam remembers.

Soon after, a volunteer group came to help with the stove’s construction. Miriam has fond memories of that day. “When the group came to build the stove, I was glad to have them in my house. They were so enthusiastic, it made me so happy. I thanked God to have sent me the international volunteers,” she exclaims. “Thanks to them I have a new a stove, latrine, and water filter.”

Miriam is proud to have her own stove and says that it is a gift from God. “I needed to wait one week after the construction of the stove to use it. It was really hard because I was so excited to try it.”

The Healthy Home Kit has also significantly improved Miriam’s economic situation. One benefit is that her new smokeless stove allows her to save money. “It only needs three pieces of wood to heat up,” she notes. “Before, we needed more wood. I used to buy some every fifteen days, but now it lasts more than a month.” By saving money from foregoing firewood purchases, Miriam and her family buy other items. “I spend it to buy some things for my daughters, to make them happy.”

In addition to her stove, the water filter has improved her family’s health. “We suffered from stomach issues because of the water, mainly because it was not clean,” Miriam says.  “Now, we have pure water.” Miriam also saves some energy thanks to the water filter. “Before our water came from the village. Every two days we needed to fill our water tanks. Now, thanks to God, with the filter, all we have to do is clean it, fill it, and use it again.”

Lastly, Miriam notes, her newly built sanitary latrine creates a safe and cleaner environment for her family.

Miriam is grateful to all of those who supported her. “I thank God, and then I thank the group for their help”.