StoveTeam’s history in San José las Lágrimas (San josé “of tears”)
To help repair the damage from a series of devastating hurricanes, our partner project in Honduras, led by Rossana Berganza, is returning to the community of San José las Lágrimas to provide cookstoves for families in need. StoveTeam first provided cookstoves in this community 10 years ago, when the village’s residents had been forced off of their land due to a government dispute.
Nancy Hughes and longtime StoveTeam volunteer Bob Way examine an Ecocina cookstove mold.
The following excerpts from the writings of StoveTEam’s founder Nancy Hughes describe a town in crisis, but overwhelmingly welcoming to StoveTeam’s volunteers and stovebuilders.
October 2011: First visit
The small village of San José las Lágrimas had been virtually abandoned by both Honduras and Guatemala, so no [stove] interventions of any type had been done.
The women were cooking over open fires and had never seen or used a fuel-efficient stove.
The first home I visited was ten by twelve. There were tree trunks at each of four corners, black plastic and old plastic bags for walls, and inside was a smoky open fire and a makeshift bed. Santiago [the father] had left the house at 3:30 am and returned four hours later carrying 77 pounds of firewood. He and Maria Luisa stayed in their home all day, and smoke filled the tiny room. Santiago had no energy left to work, and Maria Luisa was too ill to stand.
The two of them lived that day on ten tortillas.
March 2012: Forced from their homes
[Land around San José] was sold to a new owner who went to court to say he had bought the land for his cows and wanted the people to leave. The people appeared before a judge, but the judge ruled in favor of the new landowner and told the police to force them off the land. The police came, and in three days forced all of them to move to the roadside with nothing.
Students test the Ecocina cookstoves
Students from the University of Oregon returned for the second round of testing to evaluate how much wood the Ecocina has saved. Prior to the introduction of an Ecocina, an average family was cutting and burning forty pounds of dry wood per day.
“The people embraced and welcomed us in a way I have never experienced,” said one student.
“The kids took it upon themselves to remember all of our names, even though it was challenging to pronounce some of them. Their capacity to accept us entering their homes despite our many differences, was something I will hold with me forever.”
July 2012: stoves as a source of income
An enterprising woman named Tonya, along with two friends who had purchased Ecocinas, created a catering business to serve traditional food. They had fed our team in San José and, with just three stoves, the women were able to cook for up to 600 people, cooking delicious dishes like meat and cheese empanadas and flavorful chicken and beef skewers.
[In November 2012 we returned to San José] and found that every family who had received an Ecocina a year ago still had it in use and was using 50% less wood.
May 2013: A brighter future
The mayor of San Jose speaks blesses the StoveTeam project in Ch’orti’.
“San José las Lágrimas has been fighting for the rights to their land for more than fifteen years, and recently received the papers to legally live not in their own village, but three kilometers away. The families are slowly transitioning to the new land, and the first building built was a beautiful one-room schoolhouse, clearly the pride and joy of the community. We were honored to spend a week working with members of San José to beautify the land around the school and build a fence to mark the land as theirs and keep the cows out of school.”
-Elly Grogan, StoveTeam’s Program Director
November 2021: Helping to repair the damage from hurricanes Eta and Iota
After 10 years, we are proud to be working in San José las Lágrimas once again, replacing stoves that have served their lifespan, and providing new stoves for families in need.
In the wake of multiple devastating hurricanes, this work is helping to build a stronger community, fight the root causes of immigration, and combat climate change at its source.
It’s so good to know that, thanks to your support, we can still support this resilient village.
Factory owner Rossana Berganza says,
"We opened our stove factory in 2010, and San José las Lágrimas was the first community we visited. Today we are returning because of this community's desperate economic situation and its peoples' big hearts. The families are very grateful to all of our donors."
A few of the Ecocina cookstoves headed to San José las Lágrimas, November 2021.
Update, February 2022: A total of 70 new Ecocina cookstoves have been delivered for San José las Lágrimas! Rossana said,
"The families are very happy to use [this new stove]. They are glad that it heats very well and uses less firewood.
After 10 years of struggle, the families were able to obtain land deeds and today the families can enjoy their plot of land which is dedicated to working on the cultivation of corn and beans and some families have already been able to build their houses of adobe but there are still families who live in their houses lined with plastic.”
