My Stove Project!!!

Hola and Greetings from Guatemala!

As I start my second year here in Guatemala I have been reflecting on the things that I have done and learned over the last year. I set out on this journey to help change the world but instead of me changing the world, it has been the Guatemalans that have changed the world for me.

When I first arrived in Guatemala I had many aspirations, to many to count. I stayed up nights thinking about how I was going to help change people’s lives. It soon became apparent that very few of these ideas would ever materialize. In my ten months in San Martin Jilotepeque, I have received more than I have been able to give. The women who I work with on a weekly basis have shown me it is not what you have but it is how you use what you have that makes your life what it is! They have never asked me for anything other than knowledge and understanding but I have asked for so much more, I have asked them for their trust.

It is because they have never asked for anything that I want to give them something that would transform their lives…STOVES!

Stoves, something we all take for granted that everyone has, but in Guatemala that is not the case. I would like to share with you my story of fire, flames and cooking!

Five months ago in my small Guatemala town of San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, I was a lost and down Peace Corps volunteer who was sick of being a secretary. So I talked to some women about coming out and working individually with them. My first meeting was about Peace Corps and what a volunteer does. Being the custom in Guatemala, there was of course a snack at the end of meeting for the women and children. I had brought banana bread. It was such a hit that I told them I could show them how to make it at our next meeting. Born was an extraordinarily rewarding and fun experience.

Now, the twenty women that I work with, are no ordinary women. First, they are indigenous, most do not have more than a 6th grade education, if that, all of them have 3 to 10 children and have more desire and motivation than most people I know. The idea of learning something new is so exciting to them that they take time out of their busy day to come and learn.

The women desire to be able to provide a better life for their children and themselves but many of them lack the knowledge or resources. I have showed them with a small investment in some key ingredients how they can make more nutritious food for their family. I started by only teaching them how to bake but then I began to teach about the different vitamins that each dish contained. Recently I have begun to teach them how to do a cost of production for each dish and we will soon start a market survey to see if there is a desire or niche for baked goods in our community.

Cooking with indigenous women has been interesting. I was naïve enough to think that all of these women would have stoves (of some kind). To my surprise all of the women cook over open fires. I am sure you all at one time or another have sat around a camp fire. Remember all the smoke, how hot it gets and most of all how dangerous it is, now imagine cooking over that everyday of your life, for me it seemed impossible. But that is what these women do. The fire normally sits on a shelf made of adobe, which is in a kitchen like room with no ventilation. Starting to sound pretty miserable, that’s not all, most women cook with a small child swaddled on their back, who inhale the smoke all day long.

The smoke that is created has no where to go except, their eyes and lungs which has lead to horrible health conditions not only for the women but the children too. One of the leading causes of death among young children after malnutrition is lung disease. There are also a high number of burn victims both young and old from these open fire stoves.

Insert the “aha” moment here.

I decided these women deserved better and easier life and so I want to build them stoves or a plancha. A plancha is still a wood burning stove but is completely cover on all sides with a metal plate on top for cooking. There is also a chimney connected to route all of the smoke out of the house. To us these planchas are inexpensive about $120 (Q900) for each one but when a family only has a monthly income of Q1000-Q1500 ($133- $200) a month it is a lot. So in order to make this project a reality I am looking to my loving family and friends for help.

You can make this project a reality by donating whatever you are able to give. I have asked the women to contribute a Q100 ($15) which can be paid upfront or in Q20 ($3) installments. So for a $105 you can give a family a new stove and a new leash on life but all donations, large and small, are greatly appreciated.

Donations can be sent to: Friends of Guatemala
P.O. Box 33018
Washington, D.C. 20033
Memo: Mackenzie Knowling (Please don’t forget this)

All donations are tax deductible. Friends of Guatemala will send you the necessary papers.

Please feel free to share this with anyone you think would be interesting in donating to this project.

Thank you for allowing me to share with you my experience and passion. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

I am a mommy...to a cat!

Wow….I have a lot to tell you guys!!! So to start off with I got a kitty…YAY! I have been wanting one since I got here and finally found one I liked! Her whole name (the guys in my office told me she could not have just one name since she was Guatemalan)…so her name is Chula B’alam. B’alam is tiger in Kaqchikel and Chula is a term of endearment…she is sooo cute! Although she is super cute she is not so cute when she wakes me up at 5:30 am and won’t let me go back to sleep! It is nice to have someone to talk to instead of just sounding like a crazy person who talks to themselves all the time!

Last week was Independence Day here in Guatemala and it was such a great time. Two days before Independence Day I went with my sitemate and the school she works in to get the torch from another muni about 2 hours away. The torch…as the story goes (or how I was told and understood it)…was sent to all the towns across Guatemala so when people woke up on September 15 they would see the light of freedom. It is also tradition for people to line the street and throw water at the kids (and the gringa in this case). So I was soaking wet by the end of this event, but it was still a blast! The day before Independence Day all of the aldea schools come to San Martin to get the torch for their schools so the kids and I sat outside the house all afternoon throwing water on the other people running! It was one of those moments that you know really is only for kids but you cannot resist joining in and feeling like a 10 year old again! On Independence Day I got up really early and watched the four hour parade which my host brother and sisters participated in, which kind of was boring but fun was hanging out with my family! Later that afternoon I headed to the main plaza to watch more bands and the greased pole contest but we ended up just watching the Tigo guys play all of these funny games with the kids! Later we went and got street food for dinner and then had to walk the 10 minutes home in the rain…yay for not having to take a shower…haha kidding, kinda!!!

I have to say that Guatemalans have an extreme amount of pride in their country. Everyone participates in Independence Day activities, everyone watches the parades and everyone has the flag flying outside of their homes. I might get in trouble or offend people by saying this but here it goes…If we as Americans had half as much pride in our country we would be a much better country! When we were hanging out in plaza they took down the flag and played the almost five minute long national anthem. Everyone stopped, took of their hats, place their hand over their heart and sang, even small children, it was incredible! After the national anthem they then pledge allegiance to Guatemala until the day they die. It was a pretty incredible and moving experience.

So work is good, busy but great! We are moving along in the process of forming the co-op, tons of work and they are starting to listen to me and ask me for advice, soooooo cool!

Well that is all from me…hope all is well back in the States!

busy, busy, busy....

So it has been a while since I last wrote…many reasons, one being the internet has been faulty lately and the other being I am actually really busy, crazy I know!

I have been working, traveling and getting things organized. Work has been great! We are finally starting to organize our group which has been exciting but stressful because they want to do it as fast as they can and I am trying to tell them they need to slow down and make sure everything is organized and ready to legalize. Organization is not something that is appreciated or seen as necessary down here. I mention things that go into organizing such as…defining the jobs of each person on the Board of Directors or that they need to put all the harvest information in the computer so that it is easier to access and pass on, I get a nod of the head and a moving right along. Ahhh, so frustrating but so exciting!

I have done a good amount of traveling since getting back from the States. I had this amazing hike from my friend’s site to the lake. I have to say that afterwards I felt like I was about 100 years old, neither of us could walk properly. I have seen a lot of beautiful things in Guatemala but I have to say some of the views on this hike were right up there with the most beautiful if not the best. I also went to these mini hot springs right on the lake. It was really fun to be able to swim in the lake. You forget how much you miss doing simple things like that. This past weekend was our “One year” celebration! Wow, I have been here for a year that is incredible to believe! We went to these wonderful hot springs outside of Xela. We spent the night up there so we got to hangout all night in the water…by the end of the night I thought that my skin was falling off my feet because they were so wrinkled! It was great to get to catch up with everyone and just get to hangout with no worries!

Independence Day is on Monday so there has been a lot of activities going on throughout town. They celebrate all the major holidays for weeks in advance! I have to say though I am going to be glad when it is over because my host kids love to practice their drums before school at 6:30 am….as many of you know I am not a morning person, ah!

All in all, things are good, busy and moving right along!

Fun times...

As I am writing this entry I am sitting here waiting for our pizza bread to rise. Nancy, my host sister, is doing a puzzle and Rigo and I are playing “trompo” which is pretty much a spinning top that you wrap with a rope and throw (see picture, if that helps)!

This week has been a lot better than last week. Last week I was really sad to be back because I had such a wonderful visit to the States and I didn’t have a lot of work to do. I forgot how much time I had on my hands and what I did to fill it! But thank goodness this week got better. I had a great meeting with one of my women’s groups, it reminded me why I am here! We made apple pie which the women loved. It was really cute because one of the little girls asked her mom if she would make it for her birthday in two weeks! In addition to this adorable thing, the leader of the group told me that she had gone out to her sisters aldea, or smaller village and taught them how to make zucchini bread. The big surprise was that not only did she make zucchini bread, she did a cost of production with them too. (We do a cost of production for everything we make so that they get use to and know how to make one for their coffee.) I almost fell out of my chair when she told me this, wow they are actually learning something!

Not only am I the pastry chef, I am the fashion icon for the little girls. One of the little girls was arguing her mom about wearing tennis shoes with a skirt when I showed her that I had tennis shoes on with a skirt (no laughing, I have to in order to make it through the mud.) It is funny because most of the outfits I put together here I would almost never wear it in the States but here I am the fashionable one (yes, all my friends are laughing because I don’t think fashion and Mackenzie are ever used in the same sentence.)!

I have also been spending a lot of time with my host brother and sister. Rigo and Nancy taught me how to use the “tromop” and Rigo has been trying to run with me too. We have also been playing a lot of soccer and kickball in the street. It reminds me of playing basketball in the street and having to move every time a car came by. It has been amazing how much work has picked up in the last month or so, I have hardly any day with nothing to do which is anomaly for me. Lets hope it lasts!

Where I come from....

I don’t even know where to begin to describe my recent trip to the States….overwhelming, wonderful, scary, exciting, overloaded, relaxing and well quite frankly, fun! I got to see everyone that I wanted to see and more! I flew into Chicago to spend the weekend with my best friend Shep and a bunch of friends from college! It was a little overwhelming coming from San Martin to downtown Chicago. To make matters worse, Shep lives right behind the left field line of Wrigley field and Friday my first full day in the States there was a Cubs game and let me tell you when I stepped out of the apartment I was consumed by Americanness (sp?)! There were too many people, things, colors, and activities going on that my brain forgot how to take them in and interrupt them! I have never felt so out of place, even here, than I did at that moment!

But things got better. I quickly adjusted and life went on as normal, well as normal as possible! I spent the day eating and shopping, taking in the enormous amount of choice that I had! At the restaurant I could not decide what I wanted because for the last year I have either had no choice or had about three choices when I went out to eat. The shopping came back much easier than decision making. I think that I might have seemed to the average shopper like a crazed woman who had just been let out of the mental hospital. I have to say that it is tough to shop when you know that you cannot or more so should not buy most of the things in the store. I spent the rest of the weekend with friends, barbequing, bar hopping and hanging out!

Finally I made my way back to Lafayette to surprise my grandma, Grammy, who had no idea that I was coming home! It was really fun to surprise her! Of course she starting crying which then turned to anger because she was the only one that did not know that I was coming home, but then gave way to happiness, I think!

I went on a food tour of Lafayette, eating, socializing, and shopping til my heart was content! While I was home I got to see my two best friends from high school! I got to help Krystal work in her first classroom! And I got to have dinner with Shaina and her parents which is always a pleasure! I also went to the bar with my brother for the first time, which was a surreal experience! I guess I still think of him as a little boy (sorry Bubba)! As it worked out my cousin was passing through on his way to his new job in Denver so I got to hang out with him and my other cousin and his family, which was an extra bonus!

All in all I had a great trip home. Some things that I forgot how much I missed: one stop shopping, the social life and clean air. Some things that I have realized I can do without: air-conditioning (I was freezing the whole time), all the choices at restaurants and excessiveness.

I did have one surprise waiting for me in Guatemala when I got home…I had a dead bird in my kitchen…eww…but you know what, you have to laugh because where else would that happen!

I´m a ROCK STAR...almost

When you first start training they talk a lot about what your life if going to be like. The conditions, the loneliness, the frustrations and the idea that you are going to be a rock star for the next two years. What they mean by this is that you are going to be that person that everyone wants to know, talk to, shake hands with and you will inevitably have groupies (a.k.a the kids)!

This week I went out to two new communities. These communities were way, way, way out there…I am talking an hour and a half truck ride out there! When we showed up and I got out of the car I was mobbed, I imagine that is what celebrities feel like but on a daily basis! I was a little overwhelmed and quite frankly a little scared! But things died down and we went on to give our presentation (which went quite well)! We got to use the new computer that Caterpillar donated (thanks!) and the projector that we recently purchased for such uses! The people were really impressed, it looked like we had our stuff together, and little do they know what really goes on…lol!

After our presentation they served us lunch, tamales, which are good but not my favorite! I had one but that was not enough for them. They kept shoving more and more on to my plate. I was trying to tell them that I could not eat that much but they were not going to have it because as one older man put it, “Gringa, you are from America, everyone is fat and eats a lot there.” You have laugh sometimes because honestly they are kinda right!

Anyway back to the whole “rock star” thing! After lunch we went to look at the coffee of various families. Normally this would consist of dirt paths and a little bit of trekking through the fields but this community did it a little differently. We were hiking through who knows what kind of forest of coffee, banana, pacya, corn, beans and who knows what else to see these fields! I was jumping over barbwire fencing, over flowing rivers and well of course, cow, horse and chicken pooh! I have to say that being a “rock star” in Guatemala is really different, you have the fame yes, but not the fortune and on a daily basis you are not being pampered but instead you are covered in dirt and cow pooh! Like I said I am ALMOST a ROCK STAR!

The 4th of July minus fireworks...

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays…I don’t know why, all the patriotism or something like that! Surprisingly spending the 4th of July in a foreign country was a lot of fun! I had one of the best 4th’s in recent history, even though it was missing my favorite thing, fireworks!

The Peace Corps put on a 4th of July party which was a blast! We had hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, pasta salad, fruit, and brownies to eat, which for the first time in Guatemala my eyes were bigger than my stomach, YAY for good food! We also had, of course, lots of beer, drinking games and a raffle for free stuff to our favorite places (we poor people need a luxury here and there)! There was also a lot of good ole’ American music and for my LFC friends, an APC style dance, minus the drunken hook ups! I even had an LFC friend there!

Funny story…I was sitting in a bar with some friends the night before the 4th and this guy walked in that looked really familiar but I thought nothing of it until he turned around and said “Mackenzie?” I was a little spooked but it turned out to be a guy that I knew from little ole’ LFC! It is really funny how small the world really is because what is the chance of both us being in the same bar at the same time, really people, come on!

I have finally gotten back into the work thing again! But I have to say I remember why I was ready for a break! The disorganization of everything here is getting to the point that it might send me over the edge! We are starting to do inspections for the organic certification process, oh my gosh, I have never been in a situation where people didn’t care to be more organized! Every time I suggest something that might make a little bit more work right now but in the end will make things easier they say, “bastante” or “its ok, this is enough!” I want to pull my hair out!

On the bright side my women’s group is going really well! I planted seed with one group which will hopefully turn out well but I do not have the greenest thumb! My other group is super “pilas” or “go getters!” They are so incredible! They constantly want to know about what they can do to make things better for their families! I am looking into a stove project for them where they have to pay Q100 of the cost and provide the labor! Stoves are really important here because all of my women cook over open fires without ventilation! Translation, the smoke fills the kitchen, their lungs and eyes, along with the baby’s lungs on their back! Also there are a lot of burn injuries here due to the unsafe cooking conditions! So that is exciting…

Well that is it for now….