Meet the next family in line to receive help from the sale of GiveBack products.
Emilio and Elvira Asig live with their family in Santa María Cahabón, Guatemala, a rural community in the area not far from the famous ruins of Tikal. They have seven children in their home.
They live in a home typical of the area: tin roof, dirt floor, few electrical lights, and bamboo walls. The bamboo is spaced apart to allow the smoke from the cooking fire to escape.
Emilio works at at gas station and Elvira raises chickens, ducks, and other small animals for both consumption as well as for selling in the market.
Elvira cooks over an open fire within their home. This is common and this is all she has known her entire life. However, she is aware that the open fire is a health hazard and she and her family have all suffered because of smoke inhalation--including frequent bouts with pneumonia.
Elvira learned of the GiveBackProducts’ program and has received all the required, no-cost training to qualify for our program. She is thrilled to know that she will be using as much as 75% less wood than they do now--and that because the new stove has a chimney it will reduce the smoke inhalation 99%. Wood is expensive for them to buy and they see that the forests are diminishing because of the need for cooking fuel.
Elvira says that at any time someone in their family has stomach issues due to the poor quality of the water they drink. For this reason she says they will greatly benefit from having a water purification system in their home and a storage tank for the purified water. Their current system runs only for a few minutes each morning and has known impurities. Elvira says this will also save them several trips to the doctor as well as to the pharmacy.
The Asigs are currently receiving training that will allow them to plant their first family vegetable garden.
We hope to provide photographs in the coming months.
