Guatemala Stove Project (GSP) is a registered charity organization comprised of a small group of volunteers that has been working since 1999 with Guatemalan non-profit groups building masonry cook stoves for impoverished families in rural Mayan villages in highlands of Guatemala.

For centuries the Maya have cooked on three-stone open fires (indoors). Corn, as the staple diet, has to be cooked for a long time, filling the homes with toxic wood fumes. The women and young children are mainly exposed to fumes, are highly susceptible to serious health problems such as tuberculosis, chronic lung disease, eye infections and early blindness. This reduces the average person's life by 10-15 years.

The solution is a simple masonry cook stove which vents the toxic fumes to the outside. These stoves use much less wood, resulting in less trees being cut, less air pollution, and less work for families collecting wood. The solution seems very simple, but the Mayan families do not have the resources to build stoves.

In 1999, Tom Clarke, a Perth carpenter and one of the founders of GSP, identified the problem and built 6 stoves with the help of local Guatemalan masons. The year after that, 25 stoves were built by 5 volunteers. Since then GSP has grown to having built about 3000 stoves by early 2005.

At Coutts & Company Coffeehouse we chose to support GSP as a way to contribute directly to a coffee country. As such, we have been actively involved with the GSP since opening our doors in year 2000. We started first by making donations to build stoves and helping to promote the project within our store. But very soon our involvement grew to the point that GSP is now a part of our business. We now act as the store-front for GSP, have annual open houses for the project, and do continuous fundraising by selling Mayan arts, handicrafts, weavings, etc. We also sell our empty green coffee burlap bags to raise money for GSP. We accept monetary donations for GSP. Tax receipts are issued for any donations of $20 or more.

My Trips to Guatemala

In February 2002, as a part of a small group of volunteers, I traveled to Guatemala building some stoves in a Mayan village near Xela (Quetzeltenango). It was a great experience meeting Mayan families, seeing their living conditions, and experiencing their culture. ... I was overwhelmed by their extremely simple, but culturally rich lives. I was saddened by their poor health condition, mainly caused by their constant exposure to smoke from using open fires inside their homes (used for cooking and baking 3 times a day). However, I was glad to see that we were making a big difference by building simple vented-cook-stoves which were going to improve their health and lives. I was encouraged, more than ever, to promote the GSP upon my return.

In the following two years, I returned to Guatemala to build more stoves,... in different villages, different landscapes, but always dealing with the same problem.

I would like to continue traveling to Guatemala, as it gives me a deep satisfaction to see the direct impact on the families' lives. In turn, I continue to learn how to lead a simpler but more meaningful life here at home.

Al (Nader) Teflissi, P.Eng.
Co-owner / Operator
Coutts & Company Coffeehouse Emporium

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