Smokeless Stove – Estela Méndez – Laura Brock

Estela (24) lives with her husband, Samuel (26), and their baby boy, Jayden (1.5) in the community of Santa Lucía Utatlán, Sololá. While Samuel works as a Tuctuc driver, Estela takes care of baby Jayden and the household chores.

As part of Habitat Guatemala’s smokeless stove program, families receive a stove, to help them improve their health by giving them a smoke free environment.

Estela explains; “I used to cook over an open-flame stove for several years. Causing the smoke to stay inside my kitchen. Made my eyes red and gave me sour throat,” she continues, “When I found out about this project, I applied to receive a better stove. Now, you can see that there is no more smoke inside! My new stove is working great, it is easier to cook here.”

She feels satisfied with her new stove; “I feel great! No more red eyes! It lights up fast, and it gives me enough space to cook all of my dishes. And it consumes less wood.”  When asked what she enjoys cooking the most on her new stove, she smiles and answers: “My tortillas and our everyday meals.”

Estela refers to her time with the volunteers; “We had a fun day! We where chatting and working together. We felt very happy to spend time with them,” she continues, “Receive all my greetings. May God bless you and your families! Thank you all for your support.”