Jimena Gelano, a student of St. Lawrence University Class of 2028, was awarded a Davis Projects for Peace grant for her exceptional proposal, Breaking the Cycle: Clean Cookstoves for Health, Equality, and Peace in Guatemala, which funded the installation of clean cookstoves in rural communities in Retalhuleu, Guatemala, through a partnership with StoveTeam International. After traveling to Guatemala to see the project firsthand and connect with the families it serves, Jimena reflects on the experience and the impact of bringing cleaner, healthier cooking solutions to communities in need.
When we think about cooking, we picture our fuel-driven stoves at home, the ones we carefully maintain and keep clean as we prepare our daily meals. I often thought this way too, until I returned to Guatemala, where buying fresh handmade tortillas is part of everyday life, sometimes at every single meal. While visiting the countryside to buy tortillas, I found myself stepping back from the "comal", a traditional, flat, round griddle used for making tortillas, trying to avoid breathing the smoke from the burning wood. But what about all the women who cannot step away? The women who must breathe that smoke over and over again, day after day?
Indoor cooking smoke from burning solid fuels like wood, dung, and charcoal in inefficient stoves causes approximately 3.8-4 million premature deaths annually, primarily in developing nations, due to severe respiratory and heart illnesses. Women and children disproportionately bear the greatest health burden from this household air pollution, as they typically spend more time exposed to harmful smoke while cooking and collecting firewood. This exposure leads to heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, COPD, and lung cancer, making it a silent global health crisis.
This project focuses on Retalhuleu, a department located in southwestern Guatemala along the Pacific coast, known for its agricultural economy centered on coffee, fruits, lumber, and sugar exports. Retalhuleu has a population of approximately 90,500 people. However, in 2011, an estimated 53.7% of Retalhuleu's population lives below the poverty line, 60% lack access to basic sanitation, and 40% of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition. In this region, vulnerable communities face compounding challenges from traditional cooking methods that perpetuate cycles of poverty, environmental degradation through deforestation, and increased vulnerability to gender-based violence as women and children travel long distances to collect firewood. This project partners with StoveTeam International to identify a target rural community of 1,000-1,500 people within Retalhuleu. By installing 33 efficient cookstoves, the project will reduce health hazards, environmental degradation, and economic strain on these communities.
One of the experiences that helped me grow the most began with a visit to a family’s home. In the morning, we accompanied a stove builder to build a stove for a household in need. It’s easy to forget, in the rush of daily life, how much privilege we take for granted. This particular home was quite humble: a family of six, two parents and four children, living in a single room with an outdoor area where the kids played. There was no bathroom; they relied on nature for that basic necessity. And yet, despite the humbleness of their home, this family, the very one benefiting from the stove being built, welcomed us to their table. They offered a seat to me, to the worker, and to the three coordinators supervising the project. At that table, they served us scrambled eggs, tortillas, and Coca-Cola. My stomach was already full, but I could never turn down food from someone who had opened their table to me. You never truly know the effort it takes for people to place even a single tortilla into someone else’s hands. I have to be honest: living abroad (I’m currently studying in upstate New York, though I’m originally from Guatemala City) has a way of distancing me from this reality. Every time I return home, I’m reminded how easily I forget that so many people live in these conditions. And just because my own life may be more comfortable doesn’t mean the need for support like this disappears. If anything, it means I have an even greater responsibility to remember and to help.
As the days passed, I met more families who had been helped by StoveTeam International’s stoves, and each encounter filled me with a quiet joy. I could see how deeply people appreciated not just the stoves themselves, but the intention and genuine desire behind them, the wish to see real improvement in people’s lives. So many spoke of how their living conditions had changed, how grateful they were to finally breathe more easily, and how they recognized that behind every stove lies layers of effort: their own family’s, the worker who built it, the coordinators who organized it all, and the generous kindness of donors who made it possible. It was truly moving to witness how a change that might seem small can so profoundly transform the life of someone who deserves, just as much as anyone, a decent and comfortable way of living.
Finally, what struck me most was the incredible team behind this entire movement. From speaking with Executive Director Shelby Kardas and Emily Cupo, the Development & Communications Director, to getting to know Waleska Santos, the Guatemala Country Director, with whom I spent most of my time during the visit, I came away in awe. I also noticed something beautiful in the way the coordinators and construction workers interact: a genuine connection, deep mutual respect, and above all, a shared love for the project they’re building together. Looking back on this experience, I realize it gave me so much more than I expected to receive. I arrived hoping to help, but I left having learned about resilience, about generosity, and about the quiet dignity of people who keep building community. This visit reminded me that true impact isn't always measured in grand gestures; sometimes it’s a stove that lets a mother breathe easier. I am deeply grateful to StoveTeam International, to Shelby, Emily, and Waleska, and to every worker and family who welcomed me into their lives, even if only for a few days.
