The first time we visited the village we were amazed at the way the people cook in their houses. They use clay to build up a platform to hold a pot and then they build a fire underneath it. There is no ventilation for the smoke. The walls and ceilings are covered in soot. We found this to be a common problem in poor villages and decided we could have a very positive impact on respiratory and eye diseases by constructing a better stove in the kitchens. Javier and I researched different options for the stove and decided that we would build a stove in the model home when my family visited the village in December of 2008. We knew we could test the functionality of the design and make improvements before rolling out the plan to install stoves in all the homes.
Typical kitchen in the village.
Vicentina's Kitchen
Javier and Sam planning how the stove will go together.
Meanwhile the girls get busy making a paste from the stalks of cactus. The paste will be used in the mud to help make it bind to the adobes.
Javier shows two ladies from the village what we are trying to do.
Stephanie and Zacarias add straw to the mud and paste mix. No fear of getting dirty here. She went in painted toenails and all.
Stephanie high stepping in the mud with Gamarro the President of the village.
Laying the foundation of the stove.
Joe and Sam smoothing with mud.
Halfway there!
Building sleeve for the vent.
Moulding openings to fit the pans.
Almost done.
Vent pipe added, mission accomplished.
Javier, Luke, Zacarias, Sam and John
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