I am heading home and will be in the states Oct 10-22......and Dec 5-30th

Just want to let everyone I will be home and I hope to see and hear from as many of you as possible! I want to thank you for continued support and help on this project! I extend an open invitation to anyone to come visit me in Guatemala! I guarantee it will not only be a very inexpensive experience...it will be the something that will change thoughts of life in so many ways!

El Dia de Los Ninos

Each year, October 1st is celebrated all throughout Guatemala as El Dia de Los Ninos! We had a great day at the little Belle Vista school in San Pedro. A whole school day of celebration!. Games, Pinatas, small gifts, lunch and cake...and lots of fun and happy kids!

Stoves,food,roofs,shoes,books,medicine,mattresses and so much more

Jutta and Heinz are finally back in Nova Scotia and I am just one week back on Cape Cod. I have already booked my flight back to Guatemala for August!




We want to thank everyone for all your continued support! With the help of so many people supporting our project we did far more than we anticipated. We are looking forward to accomplishing more.

What more can we say...........Thank you so much!

Caroline, Jutta and Heinz

What can still be done and what is next???

We thank everyone who supports our efforts!!!!!

What to continue with.......It seems pretty simple. Stoves are still in need...maybe at least 50 more families are in need. Thanks to everyone who has helped, we already have a fund growing for the next round! Another aspect,we are thinking about, for helping this village may be to water filtration systems. For many reasons both the stoves and water filtration systems seem very logical for both health and environmental issues....and equally important,supporting the school and simply giving the children the option of education and promoting the importance of education.

I think these ideas seems to be our main thoughts. We really don't want to in any way alter their basic lifestyle, beliefs, customs etc....we only want to provide health and environmental needs at the very basic of human levels.

Thank you for caring! Donations come in from so many different sources! Many from people I have yet meet! A small amount of money here and there CAN really make a difference!!

Second day of school!

We planned to visit the first day..but were told the first day was cleaning day! Imagine your first day back is cleaning the school and the grounds! So the second day was actually the first day of classes. This was a time to for Jutta to meet with each of the teachers and see what the government has provided and NOT provided and what is critical to get for the school to run properly. Well, as we expected, they received only 2 jars of glue for the whole school and no books. But, there were 70 children registered and happy to be there! And more than happy to see Jutta! When you arrive you get so many bodies thrown on you and more kisses than you count. It make me happy to see children I remember from last year...I can imagine how Jutta must feel knowing these families and there situations for more than 5 years now. We had a great visit on the first day of classes.....Jutta has her laundry list of all the basic needs and there is no doubt in mind mind.....she will have them provided in no time.

Bella Vista School

5 years ago while traveling and studying Spanish in Guatemala Jutta, by chance was invited to go with the director to drop off very basic supplies to the school in "el campo". This is the area way up in the mountain where the majority of the village are coffee pickers and the poorest of the poor.

As it was, the school had basically nothing. No teacher, books, paper, desks or even a proper building. During this short visit Jutta learned a bit about the importance of the existence of a school for the community and how it was being shut down due to lack of government funding. The amount needed that year was somewhere around $500. When she returned to Canada she could not get this school out of her mind. She started,very grass roots, collecting money and getting kids sponsored for $12 a month. 5 years later, with lots of work and thought. There is now a nice little fenced in building, bathrooms, desks, 3 teachers, basic supplies and about 70+ children getting a chance at an education, they may not ever have the chance to receive. All accomplished little by little over 5 years by Heinz, Jutta and people who have supported them in their project. A few dollars here and there can make a huge difference in this village's life.

Elias was a coffee picker....now he is a policeman!

My first meeting of Elias was last year when he and his wife paid an unexpected urgent visit too Jutta one night to try come up with a solution to thier problem. For the past school year, they have taken in 2 young girls sponsored in the school. The mother of the girls fled to the coast to get away from an abusive drug addict husband. Bringing only the youngest of her children she left the older 2 girls behind so they could continue their educations. They were around 11 and 13. Elias and family live in a tiny one room very small home as it is, but taking the girls in was no problem for them. The problem has now arizen where the drug addict father is now threating Elias's family. You see, along with the girls come $12 a month in sponsorship for school expenses. Very little, but some of this money goes to the family for basic food. The only way to keep the children from working picking coffee beans is to contribute some of the money they would otherwise bring home to feed the family. So the father is now causing trouble in the village for Elias and his family. What can they do? When it comes to the safety of his own family, he has to decide to send the girls to their mother on the coast. But this means the chance of further education is slim...at best.

This is what I like about Jutta and her concepts of keeping the program simple and under her control. She talked directly with the woman who sponsors the girls and gave her the situation details and allowed the sponsor the choice. Do you now sponsor another child? The sponsor wanted to continue helping the girls. Now Jutta and Heinz agreed they would go directly to the coat once year now, buy all the supplies and pay all the expenses to the other school directly. Certainly not an ideal situation for Heinz and Jutta, but for now this seems to work well for everyone and they are willing to put in the extra effort.

Back to Elias....last year was a terrible year for coffee pickers in San Pedro. A virus of some sort killed off much of the crop. No beans to pick....no money. Elias decided to answer and ad that was for police training in Guatemala City. He was chosen and for 2 months went to the city for training. This process was a huge amount of work and sacrifice for his family.

Luckily, when we arrived back this year, he just started his job that day. Elias came over to my house in his uniform and you could not imagine a prouder person. He wanted me to take a photo of him saluting! You could tell it meant so much to him that Jutta, Brittany and I wanted photos with him in his uniform! It is hopeful to others in the village to see someone being able to better their lives and the lives of their family! Elias and his family, have been a great help to us helping the village. We are very proud of all his hard work!

Instruction Day

On early Thursday morning, we all gathered at a local home to hear information and receive instruction on how to properly construct and operate the Olin stoves. As you can see from the photos people were so excited, they were practically on top of the stove as it being built. For everyone to understand, the instruction process consisted of a hodge podge of 5 languages: 2 different Mayan dialects, Spanish and English, and a bit of German.
After the instruction, one by one a member of each household had to sign a contract basically saying, they will not sell or alter the stove in any way. I was amazed to learn many of the people signed the contract with only an X. Since the concept of writing is not in many of their worlds they have no signature. We learned that typically and ink pad and fingerprint is the norm. Next round I guess we buy an ink pad! This is a one big learning curve in so many ways!

Jutta and Heinz make such a difference!

Some of the most important lesson in life you learn from the most humble of people. I have learned from Jutta and Heinz that it IS possible for any person to make a difference in the world. Even if is it just one tiny little village in Central America. They don't need foundations or bureaucracy they just need to see a need, collect some money, and then help.

The little Bella Vista school would not be in existence today if not for Heinz and Jutta funding and setting up sponsors for the children. without the school, these children would have little chance of any education.

All this month, Jutta and Heinz have been busy with many of the families in the community getting them ready for school and helping with immediate basic needs. Taking people to the doctor, building roofs, buying groceries. Each year, Jutta and Heinz come to the village January and February and in the 2 month period there is much to do and so many possible needs to help with. They do all this with very little money. For instance, less than $3 per visit allowed Jutta to take Ruth, a mother of 9 riddled with arthritis, to the doctor to receive cortisone shots. Prior to 3 shot, Ruth could barley walk.

I trust their judgment, and they help as much as they can in the most basic of ways. They are conscious about changing the community or culture. They also understand the importance of people helping themselves. I feel very lucky to have been able to work with Jutta and Heinz, get to know the community, and help out now and in the future.

Stove day....Everyone helps out!

Heinz left at the crack of dawn with another man from the village to head to the coast. Two men in a huge empty truck. Hoping that in about 6 hours and no problems, they would be back from the factory with a truck load of all the ...correct .....and unbroken parts!

By the time they made it back it seemed everyone from the village was there to help, regardless of whether they were a family member getting a stove. They all seem to realize the importance of the project on how maybe in the future they may receive one. There are still about 50 homes in need of stoves.

It could not have gone smoother! Within 2 hours all the parts found their way to each correct home scattered across the mountainside.

The first meeting

Sorry for the delay, spotty internet and lack of free time has made a delay in posting. We held the meeting at the Bella Vista school. to explain the process and obligations of each family to that has been chosen. At leat one person form each family was required to attend. Elias, (a leader of the village) has been a huge help in this process. Here are 2 pictures. One of Elias and his daughter Brenda and one of entire group.

Elias explained the date of arrival of the stoves and the date of instruction each family needs to receive in order to get a stove. He also explained each family is responsible for purchasing and obtaining the 11 cement bricks needed as a foundation for the stove. This way a small but obtainable part of the stove is paid for by each family. There was no doubt that everyone in attendance realized how important getting a stove was and they were very thankful.

The project gets going!

Keep watch for daily updates! After more than a month in Antigua and many,many,many hours of studying Spanish...
We are finally at the lake and things are very busy, and certainly a different world. Heinz and Jutta arrived 3 days before me and they already have been going full speed ahead. So much to do! Helped by a leader of the village, they set out to visit and choose the 30+ families most in need to receive the stoves. The next few days we will be finishing this process in the remote area of the mountain. The photos just posted are of a few of the actual families and their homes.

School registration starts Monday so this also means we will need to make sure all the sponsored children are signed up to return this year to school and we will need to complete the process of buying shoes, school supplies for each child. Getting the school ready for another year is no easy task.

This next week will be busy, but we are luck this week to have the help of Brittany and Hector. The first delivery of stove parts are due to arrive on the 15th. They need to be divided and delivered to each site in different areas of the mountain side. Also, the 15th is the start of the school year. The 16th and 17th every family receiving a stove will be involved in a training session for installation and use. I will do my best to keep you everyone informed of our daily trials and tribulations!

Why Stoves?????

Why Stoves?
The indigenous Mayans for centuries have cooked their meals using an indoor fire pits located on the house floor called a "three stone fire".
As a result……
* There are high instances of burns due to the open flames allowing children to fall into these open fires.
* The excessive unventilated smoke in the home results in impaired eyesight issues, respiratory problems, such as asthma, cancer, and allergies. The World Health Organization declares it is the leading cause of death for Central American children under the age of 5.
*The CO2 (carbon monoxide), a deadly toxin, is typically found to be twice the level considered to be dangerous.
*Deforestation due to the wood needed to fuel fires is occurring at a 2% rate per year. Results in more energy being spent by the family, primarily the women, due to time for long treks to obtain firewood and carrying heavy bundles for long distances.
*For the many villages located on hillsides, more and more mud slides are occurring during rainy season, which at times, wipe out entire areas of villages due to deforestation.

The solution: A new stove which costs approximately $100

* Less burns due to the lifting up of the stove from the ground.
*Proper ventilation results in less deadly carbon monoxide and smoke inhalation. Resulting in improved overall health.
*60% to 70% reduction in wood consumption means long term benefits for the environment.
*Better quality of life for the woman which means less time spent gathering wood and less medical issues. Allowing more time for family, social and economic activities.

How did I end up in Guatemala wanting to build stoves??

Last winter, once my daughter Brittany entered college, and after much thoughts and much planning I quit my job and spent the winter traveling around Central America and Southern Mexico. I was both exploring and working on different projects along they way.
This is Brittany!
and my home in Onset MA.
By the way, Brittany is coming during her college break to help out!

Back to the project...

During my travels, I spent 6 and a half months working on various different projects. Everything from a well drill in El Salvador, for a community without water, to a homeless shelter. Volunteering in communities here and there. One project that particularly interested me the more I read about it was "the stove projects" in various communities... Then when I met and spent time with Jutta and Heinz and learned all about there Bella Vista school project> Nothing made me happier when Heinz expressed interest in bringing the stove project into the village. I was so happy to work with Heinz and Jutta getting the first stove installed last year and decided I would commit to raising funds and coming back and building stoves for the month of January.

Jutta in the Bella Vista schoolhouse