Lauren Mendoza is StoveTeam’s Development Intern. After spending a semester assisting with research and fundraising, Lauren volunteered to travel to Central America for three months, to help with our programs on the ground.
Yesterday marked my first month in Guatemala. And while it seems like the time has gone by quickly, it feels like I have been moving even faster.
From the moment I stepped off the plane in Guatemala City four weeks ago, and was hustled into the flow of tired and sweaty travelers as we lugged our heavy suitcases towards the long line at customs, I have found myself in a constant whirlwind of movement that has me flying, driving, boating, and tuk-tuking from place to place so fast that it seems like the moment I set down my suitcase somewhere to unpack, I am zipping it up, and heaving it into the back of our blue Corolla to leave again.
But who am I, and why am I here?
Well, my name is Lauren Mendoza, I am a junior Environmental Studies and Anthropology major at Whitman College; my favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate peanut butter, and if I had a superpower, it would be the ability to photosynthesize.
But the reason that I have the privilege of writing to you all from my apartment in Santiago Zamora, Guatemala, is thanks to an unusually productive Thanksgiving dinner in Portland, Oregon.
As a way to avoid flying during Covid, my parents and sister decided to road trip from Minnesota to Washington to pick me up, and we were invited to stay with our friends Jeff and Jeane, with the treat of an outdoor, socially-distanced Thanksgiving dinner.
However, Jeff and Jeane also happen to be longtime StoveTeam volunteers, and as our conversation topic switched to the organization, my interest was piqued. I am someone that is passionate about combating climate change and environmental justice, as well as studying human cultural practices and social structures. I also happen to really love Spanish, which I have been studying since I was in kindergarten.
By the time we were digging into the pecan pie, a spring semester internship was in the works, with the possibility of a summer trip to Guatemala.
Well, after working with StoveTeam for a semester, finding grants and researching stove adoption, I finally made it to Guatemala, and I feel like I have learned and experienced more in a month here than I have during an entire semester at college.
Lauren and StoveTeam’s Guatemala Country Director, Alex Eaton.
My first week was really spent getting accustomed to new people and to a new place. I met StoveTeam’s Guatemala Country Director, Alex Eaton, who speaks Spanish like a true chapín (Guatemalan), and holds no shortage of wisdom from his endless travels and experiences. I also met the lovely team, Bety, Eva, Chato, and Ricardo, all of whom were incredibly warm, welcoming, and patient with me as I stumbled over my Spanish, and asked them constant questions.
Through numerous outings with Alex, I also became accustomed to Santiago Zamora and Antigua. Santiago Zamora is nestled comfortably between two great volcanos, Agua, and Acatenango, whose peaks give way to lush green hills, interspersed by patchworks of milpas (fields). When I look out my window on a clear morning, I can see Acatenango peeking out between two foothills, and if I turn my head to the left, Agua seems to rise straight from the earth, encircled by a crown of silvery clouds.
While Santiago Zamora is built seamlessly into the verdant hillsides, Antigua is made of history and stone. From its bumpy cobbled streets, to the ruins of 16th century churches, the city is mysterious, almost ghostly. Yet its ancient streets are also permeated with the light and noise of tourists and locals, cars and motorcycles, stores and restaurants, and artists and street vendors—all of which make the city hum with vibrant life.
With the excitement of my first week — and my first earthquake — pumping through my veins, I felt ready to embark on my first trip with the team to El Salvador. What I was not ready for, however, was the heat! Although Alex had described to me that the small country was always about 100 degrees with 90 percent humidity, there is no way to really imagine how that feels until you are walking through the streets, breathing in the soupy air, and hoping for a breeze that will never come.
Needless to say, my body was not accustomed to the climate, but after a day of guzzling water and resting in the air conditioning, I was ready to go. The next morning, I went with the team to the factory of StoveTeam’s partner Gustavo Peña, where Bety and Chato turned what had once been a pile of brick and unmixed cement, into a stove cooking sizzling pupusas by lunchtime.
In addition to building a stove and a platform as a demonstration for a new pilot project, the team and I spent the better part of the next few days painting a beautiful StoveTeam International sign on the wall outside of Gustavo’s factory. We concluded our week with a churrasco and pool party to celebrate Gustavo’s birthday, and after learning about his love for 70’s oldies, I was given the title of DJ for the night.
The team and I left El Salvador that Friday, and after taking the weekend to rest, we left to begin our next project in San Sebastián Coatán, Guatemala early on Monday morning. The purpose of our trip was to conduct a needs assessment to determine the potential for a future stove project, and during that week, we conducted surveys in about 100 different households in San Sebastián. However, I think that our time there can best be described by our road trip: long, beautiful, and very bumpy.
While I would say that San Sebastián was one of the most beautiful places that I have traveled, it was also one of the most difficult.
It was a 15 hour drive from Antigua to San Sebastián, but I found that the town’s remoteness was part of the reason for its beauty. Located at about 10,000 feet in elevation, we were literally up in the clouds, and the misty air and tall pine trees reminded me of the Pacific Northwest.
Yet despite its beauty, I also came face to face with an immense amount of poverty. The average family only lived on about three dollars per day, and I soon learned that the only three options for the residents of San Sebastián were subsistence farming, immigration, or becoming involved with narco trafficking.
I also learned that the municipality’s removal from the outside world caused residents to have more of a machista mentality than usual, and to be very suspicious of outsiders. Because of this, I became increasingly self-conscious of the fact that I was both a woman, and an extranjera, and I felt watched everywhere I went. Yet unease also prompted me to check myself, and my American mentality. Was I approaching these situations with an American, ethnocentric mindset, and if so, how could I avoid doing this in the future?
But despite some of these bumps, I was grateful for what I learned, and for the experiences that I gained. I had the privilege of visiting, and creating relationships with people in a remote part of the world, I became (semi) Tiktok famous, and I saw how an organization like StoveTeam has the potential to bring people a lot of good.
In the past week after returning from San Sebastián, I unpacked, and said goodbye to Alex, who left to spend time with his family in the US for the first time in 18 months. I have had some time on my own, and finally began my Spanish lessons with my wonderful teacher Waleska — we recently returned from our trip to the stunning Lago Atitlán last weekend!
Now, I am preparing to travel to San Martín Jilotepeque with the team to help conduct ongoing assessments of Justa stoves built earlier this year. It has been a month of packing, unpacking, learning, meeting new people, and exploring new places. The unfamiliarity of a new country and a new culture is starting to become familiar, and yet despite all the moving, I am finally starting to feel settled.
Lauren Mendoza, Development Intern, StoveTeam International