PHOTO: Margarita Lopez Mondragon is next on our list for a stove. Her translated request: "My name is Margarita. I need a stove so that I do not always have to cook on the ground and so I can cut less wood for the fire."
ONE FAMILY AT A TIME.
One of the initial difficulties we faced with local families was resistance to this "new" technology. Not every one wanted to change familiar habits. Open pit fires are a time-honored tradition.
But once a few stoves were installed, and the women using them began to talk about the benefits to friends and neighbors, perceptions changed. New stoves:
• Use less wood
• Require less maintenance and wood gathering time
• Heat more evenly and efficiently
• Act as radiators on cold mountain nights
• Produce less smoke
• Result in fewer burns especially to children
Word spread quickly.
Now demand for stoves exceeds supply, a good problem for us to have...and one we can solve together. Each stove has a total cost of about $150 installed, including materials and labor. We are inviting you to work with us, one stove at a time.
PHOTO: Julia Reynoso Chevez was recipient of one of our stoves. Her translated thank you: "I am Julia, and there is less smoke in my house and I feel better, thanks to ECOLIFE."
OUR 2008 GOALS
1. Raise money to build stoves and plant trees | $325,000 through donations, corporate support and grants.
2. Build 2,000 stoves | In partnership with our Mexican experts and collaborators we will build 2,000 fuel efficient stoves in the ejidos adjacent to the monarch butterfly forests — each of these stoves reduces fuel wood needs by 50-70% — greatly easing the harvest of trees.
3. Plant 100,000 trees | Planting seedlings in these same communities will provide sustainable fuel in the future. Seedlings will gather moisture and improve watershed health. Importantly, growing trees sequester atmospheric carbon — helping to slow climate change.
4. Improve quality of life | People within those 2,000 homes receiving stoves will be ensured a healthier future for their children and the environment — assuming an average family of five (conservative estimate) we can expect to help 10,000 people. Over time, quality of life improvements lead to higher education levels for women and children, voluntarily reduced birth rates, and more effective environmental stewardship.
ECOLIFE FOUNDATION
Endangered Monarch Butterflies
Outreach Project Coordinator
Attn: Lee Pagni
PO Box 462845
PHONE (760) 535-6556
FAX (760) 737-6736
EMAIL
Your tax deductible donation makes this outreach project possible.
