Protect Guatemalan Forests with Clean Cookstoves

This is Micaela*, a mother of nine and a resident of San Antonio Chacayá, a small village just outside of Santiago Atitlán. Like many others in her community, her husband works as a field laborer in a finca, earning no more than $4 USD a day. This means their family finances depend on an abundant harvest, something no longer guaranteed as climate change brings unreliable crop-cycles. Her family cannot afford to buy the fuel she needs to cook, so they spend hours each week collecting firewood. 

Her sister-in-law, a proud owner of a TRL stove, had raved about the financial and health benefits. Micaela began thinking, how great would it be to have her own, so she wouldn’t be cooking on a fire on the floor. Unfortunately, she knew it was an expense her family could never afford. 

One day, her daughter spoke with Isa, our educadora. Isa explained that luckily, TRL had a unique opportunity: a donor wished to give ONIL stoves to impoverished families in the community. From there, Isa visited her home, explained the nature of our project, and registered Micaela in our program. Now, Micaela is thrilled to be cooking with an ONIL stove which means a lower risk of burns, eye problems and respiratory diseases for her and her children. Plus, her family is now doing their part to slow deforestation on the slopes of the nearby volcano, a biodiverse area home to prime habitat for quetzales and other threatened bird species. 

Because of donors like yourself, we are able to help families like Micaela’s. In 2020, we’ve installed over 50 ONIL stoves all because of YOUR support. On behalf of our community and the planet, we thank you for your generosity. 

Listen to Micaela tell her story at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuysdA06BXU 

*Name is changed for privacy