Guatemalan children use their playtime to gather wood for cooking
An Oak Ridge United Methodist Church and High Point University team will be traveling to Guatemala again for High Point University's fall break, October 16-24, 2010 and would love for you to join us!
The details are as follows:
1)The cost should be $1100-$1200 depending on airfare.
2)There will be a maximum of 20 team participants
3) This team will fill fast, please submit applications early, final deadline for applications - May 9, 2010
4) Final deadline for $600 deposit - May 16, 2010
5) If there is sufficient interest we will add a second team the following week, October 22 - 31, 2010.
Open fires in homes may lead to burns, lung damage and eye damage in all families
What We Can Do
In 2008 ORUMC building teams went to Pabeya, Guatemala to help build a church. In February 2009, two teams went back to install stoves and water purifiers in 125 homes. We poured a concrete pad (~100sf) in the kitchen and whitewashed the walls. We could only imagine how difficult it was to breathe the smoke from the open fire, but the smoke filled room took our breath away! We could only tolerate it far a few minutes while they inhale it for a lifetime. The mothers cook meals in the smoke filled rooms with babies strapped to their backs. Try to envision the effect on their developing lungs.
In February 2010 another team started a similar project in Paquila and installed stoves and water filters in 70 homes. This team also provided de-wormer for all the families in Pabeya and Paquila that now have access to clean water from the water filters provided.
The wonderful people in Pabeya and Paquila were so grateful for the stoves and water purifiers. It seems so simple to us but the stoves and water purifiers can have a huge impact on their quality of life.
The Open Fire Problem
For centuries the indigenous population, the Mayan, have cooked their meals using open flame three-stone fires on the dirt floors of their one room homes. This traditional method of cooking is the cause of rampant medical and environmental problems throughout rural Guatemala. There are high instances of facial and hand burns due to children falling into these open fires while they were playing or learning to walk. The excessive smoke inhalation is the leading cause of death in Guatemalan children under the age of 5, according to the World Health Organization. The deadly gas carbon monoxide is twice the level considered to be dangerous. The inefficient burning of wood for three-stone fires requires the women and children to gather huge amounts of wood daily, contributing to Guatemala's deforestation at a level of 2% per year. The time lost to long treks to get the wood combined with the effect of carrying heavy loads has a detrimental health impact on women and their families.
A Healthy Alternative
The "ONIL" Stove is a method of cooking that is compatible with traditional methods. The fire is contained in a clay-fired firebox in an insulated, durable stove that sits off the floor, thus minimizing the risk of burns to small children. It is vented by a galvanized steel chimney and the stove uses an efficient burning technology that virtually eliminates smoke and deadly carbon monoxide in the home. Using the ONIL stove means longer life expectancy, safer child development, and more time and energy for families. It reduces wood consumption by 70%, resulting in a long-term benefit to the environment and a better quality of life for families. Women who use the ONIL stove gain the equivalent of two days a week in time saved from gathering wood. This allows them time for social and economic activities like cultivating a vegetable garden or making goods to sell to help support their family. There are over 40,000 stoves in use, Guatemalans are saving over 300,000 trees per year!
ONIL stoves create clean, healthy and higher quality lives
The Water Problem
We often take safe drinking water for granted. Water from rivers, streams, ponds, or rainwater may be the only sources of water for rural villages in Guatemala. The water may be murky, with an unpleasant odor and taste, and it could be a source of disease, since 60% of all diseases are water-borne. Even clear and apparently fresh water may be polluted with microscopic disease-causing pathogens, and children are especially vulnerable.
Black icicles hanging from the ceiling - imagine the lung damage in children and adults alike
Water Purifiers
The HELPS Gravity Water Purifier is a practical solution to the need for safe drinking water, using quality components at a very accessible price. It is specifically designed to micro-filter a supply of safe drinking water using a simple two container system. A person simply pours the water into the top container where it goes through a ceramic purification element and into the lower container, providing up to 10 gallons of safe drinking water every 4 hours. It is manufactured of food grade polyethylene and it is hygienic, durable and easy to clean. It has a ceramic element that does not allow bacteria to grow because it is impregnated with environmentally safe silver and never needs to be sterilized or boiled.
These families will get safe drinking water from water purifiers that eliminate microscopic disease-causing pathogens. Children are especially vulnerable.
What YOU Can Do
Please pray for our team, our mission project and those we serve in Guatemala. Please consider adopting a Guatemalan family. We want to make it personal. Send a picture of your family and we'll bring back a picture of your adopted family with their new stove.
Will you help a family?
We hope you will be led to adopt one or more families. Please share this opportunity with friends, family, Sunday school class, groups you belong to, employer, etc. If you are not able to adopt a family please consider partnering with a friend or two. You may also select one component for a family as outlined below.
$300-Adopt a family (includes stove, concrete, whitewash and purifier)
$130-Provide material for one ONIL stove
$120-Provide materials for the concrete slab and whitewashing the walls
$50-Provide the water purifier
$__ - provide any amount to use for Guatemalan families as needed
Please consider an adoption in memory or honor of someone you love.
Make checks payable to: Oak Ridge UMC and memo Guatemala project
Mail checks to:
Max Kern
6815 Brookbank Road
Summerfield, NC 27358
Please include your email address and contact information so we can keep you updated.
For more information feel free to contact Max Kern at 336-643-7297 or
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Small gifts make a huge difference
Oak Ridge UMC has established a very important relationship with High Point University by joining students on Disaster Response teams every spring and fall break since Katrina hit in 2005. In October 2009 we added an al international team for fall break, the Guatemala stove and water purifier project was a perfect fit. We hope you will support the students, the team and especially the Guatemalan families by adopting a Guatemalan family.
If you would like to know more, check out these websites:
