AUTHOR: Nancy TITLE: Guatemala Update DATE: 1/30/2009 07:13:00 PM ----- BODY:
Hi all,

We've had a very successful trip here in Guatemala but we're off to Honduras in the morning. Yesterday we had a fabulous visit with Sharon of Mayan Families and we feel we have a good start there in selling the Ecocina. The folks at Mayan Families had two other versions of stoves, but everyone was delighted with the Ecocina because it was not only portable but very affordable. It took us nearly the entire day to go and come from Panajachel due not only to road work but our taking a wrong turn and driving quite some distance towards Mexico. It seems that when they do road work here they often remove the directional signs! Anyway, it was a great day and we all felt good about the demonstration and the reception we had from Sharon.

Today we relaxed for a bit and Ken and Gustavo made their first Retained Heat Cooker for Hortensia who lives next to the factory. They bought a nice basket with a top, some sheets of styrofoam, a bag normally used for hauling vegetables, a tattered blanket, and a pillow. With this they made an "olla bruha" or what one might call a thermos for a pot of beans. The first purchase was a cooking pot with a lid, the second was a basket a bit larger and deeper than the pot, the third was the vegetable bag the styrofoam and a bit of duct tape, and the fourth was the ancient blanket and pillow. The interior of the basket was lined with two layers of styrofoam with two circles of styrofoam on the bottom. Then the bag was placed in the basket and folded over the top and down the sides. The blanket was cut so it surrounded the sides and the bottom of the basket, taped into place, and the bag was pulled over everything and taped into place. The final touch was to cut the remaining pieces of blanket to stuff into the pillow.

It sounds complicated, but the process didn't take long and then we went to Hortensia's home with a few pounds of black beans and the RHC. She cleaned the beans and put them on to boil on the Ecocina. When the beans had boiled for about 25 minutes she removed the pot of beans and sunk the entire pot inside the RHC, put the pillow on top, and waited about two hours as the beans remained boiling. We called her after the two hours and the beans were not quite done. Of course, it was because of the altitude, so she was going to boil the beans for another 40 minutes to "finish" them. Tomorrow she'll just have to leave beans in the RHC for three hours and everything will be fine. The result is that she cooked beans for over two hours with only a small bit of firewood!

I nearly forgot to mention that this morning Elke decided to GO FOR IT and left with the Peace Corps Volunteers on a 15 hour journey to north Guatemala to live with them for about two weeks! She was very excited and should be able to really get the feel of Mayan life and we'll collect some good "before" data on stove usage.

We're off to Copan Ruinas tomorrow to meet with the Rotarians. They will have lunch prepared for us and have arranged for hotel accommodations as well. So, it will be a long day of driving but it should be fruitful as well. Don and I have revised the Rotary Sample Grant (again!), but we feel we now have it right. We have the Factory Set-Up document and the Sample Grant all put on thumb-drives so we feel we're ready for Honduras! Once I leave next week, Don and Gustavo will go to Choluteca to meet with Rotarians there, and so we are feeling like we're making progress. There are a few stops with the CPA and the Peace Corps Volunteers in San Salvador, and we'll even get to spend a day with Gustavo at his factory.

It all seems to be coming together at last! Thanks for listening :-)

Nancy

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:Saturday, January 31, 2009 1:04:00 AM Nancy--The familiar names and places bring smiles and fond memories. Thanks for taking the time to keep us up to date and for allowing us to join you vicariously.

Judi ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:Sunday, February 01, 2009 8:42:00 PM Thank you so much Nancy, for your amazing enthusiasm and energy... I can't believe you also keep us updated!
Victoria ----- --------