The power of a donation

Traditional Guatemalan Stove.

Imagine cooking to trying to cook on this stove made of cement blocks.  Imagine searching for wood for hours, knowing that how much wood you find depends on how long you can prepare food for your family.  Imagine that the fumes from your stove infiltrate your entire living space, affect the health of your entire family, and cause breathing difficulties for even your youngest children?

This is the reality that most Guatemalan families experience every day.  

But Open Windows Foundation is on a quest to make a difference.  Through our Eco Stove program, we have the goal of providing 500 stoves for families of the children in our program.  We are already beginning to achieve this goal. 

A family of volunteers who gave their time to Open Windows in May also donated three Eco Stoves at the end of the volunteer experience... one for each member of the family.  Now, three months later, three Guatemalan families have a more efficient way to cook, reduced carbon emissions, and significantly improved air quality and health.  

New Eco Stoves impact multiple generations:

Donata and her granddaughter with their new stove.  Their old stove is pictured above. 

Three generations of the Timotea family with their new stove.  

Rafaela and her new stove.  

When an Eco Stove is donated, it has a multiplier effect.  Not only can mothers cook more efficiently, but the health and well being of their entire family is improved.  

You can help an Open Windows family no matter where you are in the world.  Email our Co-Founder Teresa Quinonez at OpenwinowsTeresa@gmail.com to donate an Eco Stove today.   We need your help to reach our goal of 500 Eco Stoves!

Learning more about volunteer experiences with Open Windows

One of our volunteers has written a fantastic blog about her experience in Guatemala.  While with Open Windows, Megan spent time teaching the Open Windows teaching staff how to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets.  Our staff will then teach the mothers of the children in our program these new skills.  To learn more about Megan's experience volunteering with our organization, please visit:

http://www.megancampbell.ca/Confessions-of-a-Yoga-Teacher.html

Working with Developing World Connections

Late July and early August have been busy months for us at Open Windows.  

A fantastic group from Canada called Developing World Connections paid us a two week visit. Volunteers from this group built two houses for two different Open Windows families. One is made of blocks and the other one out sheet metal; one family bought a small plot of land, and the other is renting the land.

Volunteers from Developing World Connections helped build houses for Open Windows families.

Volunteers worked hard for two full weeks on the construction of this house.

Kathy, another enthusiastic volunteer, gave cooking classes to the children in the Open Windows morning program. 

Additionally, a volunteer named Lisa paid us a visit.  Lisa is a certified massage therapist.  She taught a group of mothers and Open Windows participants unique massage techniques using two balls to dissolve tension in the muscles.

This mother and her future Open Windows participant enjoyed learning the massage stress relief technique.

Volunteers from Developing World Connections made a truly positive impact at Open Windows.