HEALTHY HOMES PROJECT: Cook stove construction

We invited the groundskeeper of the health post to serve as our Master Builder during the construction phase of the project because he had participated in a training session that I coordinated within the previous year.  

Happy mom with her new AMIGA Design improved cook stove

In the photo, you can see the opening where firewood is placed inside the tunnel underneath the iron cooking surface.  If the cook is not using all of the holes (on which the pots are placed) they should be covered and the smoke gets forced through the tunnel and into the chimney at the end of the tunnel.

The base of the cook stove serves several purposes: to make the cooking surface higher, which saves the cook from back strain when bending over a fire, and it reduces the chances that the kids will come into contact with burning firewood. Inside the base is sand filler, but directly underneath the tunnel (inside the base) are ingredients that help maintain a consistently high heat: broken glass and one kilo of salt and one kilo of sugar.

Months prior I had presented a list of materials with costs included to the local municipal government to request support for the project.  I spoke directly with the Gerente (Comptroller) of the municipality who assured me that there would be sufficient funds to buy the materials when we were ready to begin building.  It was no surprise that months later the funds had run out and we were left wondering how to pay for the materials to build the cook stoves.

Altogether, the cost of the materials to construct 35 stoves and pay the master builder adds up to about 8,000 soles (under $3,000).  I increased the number of cook stoves to 35 to include stoves for the seven volunteer health promoters who had worked diligently to conduct house visits and complete the monitoring forms.  At this point in the project, two participants had voluntarily dropped and no longer wished to participate, leaving us seeking funds to purchase materials for the remaining 28 participants and 7 health promoters.

Luckily, Peace Corps has a small grants program and is able to fast-track grant applications through several U.S.-based funding sources.  Unfortunately, there were no small grants available for health projects.  But, there were funds available for environmental projects, so I added an environmental education component and tree planting activity, and I successfully argued that the stoves reduce deforestation because they utilize less firewood.  It creates more work for me, but it’s worth the pain in order to get the necessary funding.

With the grants funds burning a hole in my bank account, I negotiated the welding of the metal cooking surface and the conical hat that rests atop of the chimney from a welder in Chulucanas, recommended by Peace Corps’ cook stove consultant.  A local welder in La Union made the iron chimney support, and I ordered 3,000 bricks from a local brick maker in Monte Redondo.  All of the other outstanding materials I was able to purchase from local hardware stores in La Union.   Purchasing the materials was challenging, but it was not the hardest part.  The real challenge was to arrange for transportation of the welded materials from Piura, and the bricks from La Union.

Given that the municipality was not paying for any of the materials that they had originally agreed to purchase for the project, it seemed fair that they could at least provide transportation for the materials.  Arranging transportation turned out to be a challenging and frustrating task.  First, I submitted a request to the Mayor for transportation of the materials.  My request was approved, but in order for the logistics manager to arrange transport, I needed a document from the municipality stating the exact dates and specifications of what would be provided.  Weeks later I finally was able to obtain the proper documentation that would allow me to bring the welded materials from Piura to my community.  The second half of my transportation dilemma was still unresolved, and it took a full month for the municipality to transport the mountain of bricks from the brick maker 10 minutes away to the health post in my town.

In June we were finally able to begin construction!  In preparation, the master builder and I built a model stove and discovered that the number of bricks needed would be much higher than we anticipated.  The recommended number of bricks to use to construct the “Amiga” style stove is 200, but with the measurements we were provided (80cm wide x 70cm tall x 180cm long) there would be no way to build it to those dimensions with only 200 bricks.

The master builder and I decided to shorten the design to 140cm long, cutting off 40cm length and saving 50-60 bricks.  Additionally, we decided to fill the base of the stove with dirt to save precious bricks.  These design changes allowed us to build each stove with as little as 220 bricks.

I should add that the Peace Corps recommendations are to ask the participating families to purchase bricks or make mud bricks using locally available (free) ingredients.  The people in my community do not use mud bricks for historical reasons and when asked about the possibility of making mud bricks or buying traditional bricks every family responded negatively.   In the 1970s there was a devastating flood that occurred in my community and everything was lost or destroyed, except that which was made from brick or cement, hence everything is reluctant to build anything with mud.   Furthermore, the participants of the project do not have the funds to buy bricks, so the responsibility to provide them fell to the project coordinators.

All of the materials were brought to the health post and the families were notified that they should collect the materials from the health and bring them to their homes at least one day prior to their specific build date.  The master builder, who is also the groundskeeper at the health post kept track of the materials and communicated with the families to arrange for pick-up.

Building a stove is backbreaking work for someone who is more accustomed to working in front of a computer.  I exercise almost every day (to the amazement of people in my community) but shoveling mud and hauling bricks for 3-4 hours was almost beyond my physical capacity.  Even though we had a helper from each family, and often one or two younger family members helped out, it was still quite demanding work.  

Click here to read about the project challenges.