How to Build a 
"Green" Stove  with a Machete...

Nicaragua is over  70% deforested and one 
contributing factor is that the majority of the 
population  still  cook over wood fires...


A traditional way of cooking.


An average family burns an entire small tree in less than two weeks.  That times 1,500,000 or so families in Nicaragua, equals a LOT of trees.  Nicaragua's response has been to outlaw cutting down trees, so now poor families have to buy the wood for their fires. 

It's become an environmental AND an economical crisis! 

Several JustHope Partners are building "green" (ecological) stoves in La Flor and Chacraseca to help reduce both the expense of cooking and the deforestation its causing. 

AND these "Green" Stoves  are also proviing help in several other ways...
  • The chimney channels the smoke outside instead of filling up the cooking area, reducing asthma and other respiratory problems.
  • The internal insulation keeps the outside of the stove from getting hot, so fewer children and women are getting burned.
  • Families are using less of their limited incomes to buy wood (these stoves reduce wood use by over 70%) which means more food on the table
Green stoves cost $450 each to build.  They save that in wood fuel costs in just 18 months.  To date 25 of the 87 families in La Flor and about 200 of the 1700 families in Chacraseca have one of these life-changing stoves!  Our goal for 2017 is at least 20 more!

Here are some JustHope Partners from Phoenix, AZ showing you the steps to build a "Green" Stove in La Flor! The process is slightly different in Chacraseca, but the results are the same! 

Partners helping build a "green" stove.


The last step is adding the tin roof over the new kitchen, but first the chimney hole needs to be cut into the tin. Watch it happen with every Nicaraguan farmer's favorite tool for every job - a machete!

Building a
Building a "Green" Stove with a Machete!

Democracy at work in our Nicaragua 
Partner Communities 

The new Board of Directors (from left to right): 
Osmin, Ligia, Aida, Jairo, Sebastian, Pedro Luis, Lesbian & Armando.


Both La Flor and Chacraseca have processes in place to elect new leaders every two years. And in Chacraseca, those bi-annual elections just happened! JustHope offers a big WELCOME to the new "Comite" (a short term we use for the Board of Directors of the community) in Chacraseca!

As the new leaders move into place, JustHope will be negotiating a new "Partnerships Agreement with them to lay out the ways in which we will work together to promote Health, Education, Agriculture, and Social Enterprise in Chacreseca... read more. 



We Need You!
June 3-11, 2017

We have ambitious summer plans in Chacraseca!
 
But we still need SEVERAL partner travelers 
 to help make it all happen!

 Please consider joining us from June 3-11 for a 'summer intensive' program
 to engage Nicaraguan and US Partners in working together 
in the Cultural Center, 
at the Model Farm, 
and with Stitching Hope!

WE NEED 2-3 people to teach art and/or drama in the Cultural Center

WE NEED 3-5 people to help build a walkway and plant trees on the Model Farm

WE NEED 1-3 people to work with Stitching Hope on  marketing techniques 
     for local street fairs
 


Are you able to help? Click here to sign up today!


Amazon Smile

Your contribution to JustHope is tax deductible as described on your receipt and to the extent allowed by law.
JustHope is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity (tax ID# 26-0430769).
 918-932-3209 | office@justhope.org |  justhope.org
STAY CONNECTED:
Like us on FacebookView on InstagramFollow us on Twitter