AUTHOR: Nancy TITLE: October 5, 2009 DATE: 10/06/2009 05:26:00 AM ----- BODY:
It seems odd for me to say it again, but WOW...It was another VERY eventful day.

Monday morning started at the factory which now is brimming with stoves and workers. All of them were dressed in new StoveTeam International shirts so we could take a photo before our departure for the city. We met Juan who had come from Nicaragua to learn how the Ecocina is produced. He is a new employee at Proleña, and we have a contract to work with them on their work for Trees Water People. Gustavito had picked him up from the bus station yesterday at 2pm and he had given him a tour of the factory and explained production step-by-step. Juan accompanied us for the remainder of the day and although I’m sure he was exhausted, it seemed to teach him what StoveTeam is all about.

Our next stop was at the office of Consortium, a legal firm that works throughout Central America. Stephanie, who is our contact there, impressed all of us and explained all of the papers we will need to send to get the logo, design and our NGO registered in each of the countries of Central America. They are providing their services to us for free, and we are thrilled to have them as participants.

The next meeting was with Santa Tecla Rotary and the engineer who is promoting our stove at his own expense. He wants to make our project the priority for his club and will work to do so. He impressed upon us the importance of mentioning to the government that we were working with Rotary International on our project, as it will mean a lot. The advice was timely as we were meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs at 1:45pm.

So, off we went to meet with the Minister who told us of his history fighting with the FMLN during the war. He, Don and Gustavo had met when Don was working here as an election observer, and he promised to open doors for us with the new government.

He was as good as his word as our next meeting was with the Vice-Minister of the Environment. She also was extremely helpful as we explained our project. Luckily, she had previously worked for FISDL and knew the entire evolution of fuel-efficient stoves and immediately seized on our new Ecocina as the solution to many of the world’s environmental problems. She was not only interested but said she needed to go forward with this project immediately. If Gustavo had not been leaving for Nicaragua she would have been at the factory tomorrow, but as it is, she’s coming next Wednesday for an official visit and bringing along a number of colleagues.

As we left Gustavo to drive through Honduras to Nicaragua with Juan, we were all feeling pretty excited. Of course, these trips have their ups and downs, and sure enough the next thing to happen was a major blowout on the way to the airport. Not only was the tire shredded, but the jack wasn’t completely there. No worries….we’re resourceful and Marvin, our driver, Gerry, Don, Susie and Jack jumped out, unloaded the luggage and repaired the tire using the only materials available.

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