AUTHOR: Nancy TITLE: El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala DATE: 8/12/2008 10:32:00 AM ----- BODY:
Okay, so it seems I've left you in the lurch after we left the slippery road in El Salvador, but then again it's because not only the computer crashed but the car decided to take a little time off as well! That's a later story, so let me summarize our extensive trip for you first.

The time in El Salvador consisted in a number of visits to various stove sites and Rotary clubs to assess their interest in our program. There was really no need to find out if the stove was acceptable as we are getting more orders than we can cope with at the present time, but it is always interesting to see the stoves "in the field" and see how people are using them and talk about what improvements they would like to see.

One day was especially interesting as Channel 12 had decided to come for an entire day to photograph the factory and a small finca where stoves had been distributed. The factory visit was routine to us, but the newscasters and photographers were very impressed with the work and anxious to see the stoves in a village. We drove up the Ruta de las Flores away from the intense heat of Sonsonate to a lovely coffee finca. We passed piles of wood cut and stacked for sale, and I asked the finca owner if buying efficient stoves would impact his wood business. He answered that his finca was becoming so denuded of trees that he would be delighted to give up the selling of wood!

At the finca we encountered a woman who was completely enamored of her new stove and spoke on camera about the benefits to her family and her child who suffered from asthma. It was great to get this on camera and we all loved seeing how the finca workers lived in a beautiful plantation filled with flowers and fruit trees. Later that week we watched ourselves on television in a five minute news segment showing our work. Now we've had our five minutes of fame!

Another highlight in El Salvador was a visit to Trifinio, an area where three countries come together at a beautiful lake. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala manage the lake jointly and we were hosted by the head of the Department of the Environment for that region. He is a big proponent of the stoves and if the Santa Ana Ciudad Heroica Rotary will sponsor us in that area we can make a big impact on three countries. Santa Ana has signed a grant for us but we are still waiting to hear if they have done the required reporting to Rotary International on their previous grants. They hope to work with us and with CESA, a local cement company, who may also give us some help with our cement stove production.

After El Salvador we drove via Honduras all of the way to Leon, Nicaragua. On the way, we met with Chrisitian, a friend of Gustavo's, who had been promised stoves a year ago. He is anxious to start a factory and we are hoping to partner him with Rotarians from San Miguel. The San Miguel Rotarians were very welcoming, anxious to partner with us on a new grant, and have requested further information which we hope to send to them soon. They are about one year out on a grant, so we have a bit of breathing room.

The San Miguel Rotarians then sent us to Rotarians in Leon. Ken had hoped we would go to Estali, but the Rotarians said we would be much better off in Leon, so off we went. We arrived in Nicaragua without much incident other than Gustavo locking his keys inside of the car at the border. Luckily, those money changers at the border knew someone who could open a locked car in less than 5 minutes, so we were on our way.

Nicaragua was beautiful, but HOT! Really hot!!!! I had visited a few years ago, but only Managua and surrounding areas and found the country extremely poor and very corrupt. The people, however, are lovely, and so was our hotel. We split for a very nice place with a huge pool, and all but Ken jumped in the water at the first chance. Dining at the hotel was also a huge treat as each table was set individually under a palapa in the garden, and the palapas each had individual lights. Formal waiters brought our delicious breakfast each morning and we felt that despite the intense heat we could cope with the day.

We had put off the Rotarians the first night as after twelve hours of driving I didn't feel we could cope with cocktails and supper with guests. They arrived, however, at 10am and we had our agenda laid out. We took coffee with them and then visited the owner of a stove factory nearby. This stove factory was producing the EcoFogon that I had seen on my previous visit to Nicaragua. Not only had I seen the EcoFogon, but I had met the owner of the factory! He was gracious and showed us his stoves that are extremely heavy and cost over $100 apiece. When he saw our new design, he was very anxious to produce the Ecocina, so once we get a bit more organized we'll send him all of the design information. We did find, however, that we may need to have the help of the Rotarians in bringing the comals and other metal pieces from El Salvador as the price of metal is three times higher in Nicaragua!

to be continued…

Nancy

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