GVI Phoenix stoving gets underway in Ecuador

This July saw GVI Ecuador´s new stove building project begin in earnest. In the space of four weeks, three volunteers – Trish, Ted and Pedro - successfully constructed four shiny new stoves in family homes in the Larcacunga community.

The advantages of these stoves over traditional open fires are numerous, and include a 75% increase in efficiency, the elimination of harmful smoke from the house (through the chimney) and a reliable source of radiating heat.





From the moment the idea of stoves was first broached, excitement within Larcacunga had been growing, and with local master-builder Angel onside we were in a position to commence the buying of bricks, blocks, planks and planchas, a process which was to see our bartering, negotiating and eyelash-batting skills stretched to the max.

We then had the materials delivered to the community, where an unlikely team of indigenous women was ably supported in unloading the camionetta by Orlando, our burly Norwegian volunteer, and his pick-axe.

The following week we started constructing and, after only one false start, Trish became Angel´s first glamorous assistant. With the eyes of the community on her every move, she put in an admirable shift, and in two days the stove was completed.

Next up was Ted, who built two stoves, and in doing so put his experience in construction to good use, duly impressing Angel and earning him the responsibility, amongst other things, of mixing the concrete unaccompanied – a part of the process which Angel was particularly precious about!

Finally we had Pedro, fresh from the Honduras childcare project, whose stove, after much deliberation, had to remove smoke from the house via a chimney that went out through the wall, due to the height of the house in which we were working.

Despite this it was completed within two days, and the feedback we´ve had from each of the families so far has been very positive.







With four stoves successfully completed, we´re now looking ahead with excitement to the next batch, which will see us building throughout much of late August and September.

GVI Phoenix stoving gets underway in Ecuador