Smokeless Stove: Esteban Olivia Recopachi

Doña Esteban is a homemaker and lives in the village of El Rejon Sumpango. Her husband, Macario is a farmer and together they have two sons, Flavio and Anibal. After living in their current home for 33 years, Doña Esteban received her first smokeless stove, thanks to those who came to build, just 8 months ago.

Before her current stove, Doña Esteban cooked on an adobe stove that she used inside her house. The new stove has changed her life because it removes smoke from the house and economizes their wood use. With the stove, she says, her frijoles turn out very beautiful, The stove heats food evenly and cooks the food more quickly.

She learned about the project through Doña Margarita, a community leader within El Rejon Sumpango, and let Doña Esteban her know she had seen the stove that others in her community now had and saw benefit in having a smokeless stove for her own family. “Thanks to her, she connected us to Habitat and in just a few months, the volunteers came to help us build a stove.” “Thank you to everyone who came to give us such a gift, our family life is better now because you came.”