The bulk of our time, energy, and effort this summer went toward the continuation of the Cocina Project.
Despite our established presence in the Huanuscuro area and success in construction last year, we encountered several roadblocks in building clean burning stoves in the campo.
First, it was necessary for us to attend a community meeting to explain our purpose for being there and gauge overall interest. Even though this is something we've done before there was still some hesitation from community members because of the unusual circumstance of foreigners spending substantial time in their town. Additionally, at the meetings we had to deal with a slight language barrier from time to time. The primary form of communication in Huanuscuro is the indigenous Andean language Aymara. Although a sizable portion of the community spoke Spanish, a few people would continually try to speak with us in Aymara.
After we solidified our relationship with the townspeople, we experienced another hiccup in our initial plan. This time, the physical construction of the stove was the issue. The model we used last year included adobe bricks as the primary component for the base of the stove. Residents of each house were responsible for providing their own adobe bricks and we covered the rest of the materials. However, because of the cold climate during the winter months, the clay of the adobe would crack during the freezing nighttime temperatures.
The solution to our problem was introduced to us by a man at the community meeting. He showed us a pre-made clay stove that could be purchased at the market in several neighboring towns. Although we were wary to change our model, we calculated the price of materials and realized it was almost as cost effective as our former model.
Once we decided to go through with the new model, we worked at an extremely rapid pace.
We started scheduling three households for stove installation per day — a goal that was simply unattainable using the old model. Between the commute to the campo, buying supplies in Puno, and pre-building chimneys at night, our schedule was jam packed.
However, when we got off the convi everyday with stoves in hand, the women of the village treated us like rockstars. This came into sharp contrast with how we were treated when we would carry stoves in the streets of Puno. People would laugh and ask sarcastic questions — like, "Are you going to cook me a meal?" — clearly not understanding the purpose of our work.
At the peak of our stove constructing efficiency, we hit yet another speedbump. One day we were working as usual and a middle-aged, imposing man came up to us and claimed to be the president of Huanuscuro. Furthermore, he claimed we needed to pay a tourist tax. We didn't believe he was the president, as he wasn't in attendance at any of the community meetings. As it turns out, we would later learn that he was indeed the president. However, he did not grow up in Huanuscuro, nor did he have any family connections there. It was explained to us that being the president of a town was more like a status symbol or business venture rather than a point of ancestral association. In fact, presidents have limited terms and normally move from town to town without sustaining any permanent ties. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, Ken and Dr. Ivan diffused the situation nicely and some of the townspeople even defended our presence in their community.
The final count on stoves was 30 and we have a waitlist of houses for next year. Even though we had our obstacles throughout the project, it was always rewarding to see the finished product. The fact that our work is not yet done there will motivate the group to fundraise and make plans for next year.
[Written by David Riva | Photos by Benjamin Antonio, Clare Toeniskoetter, and David Riva]
Despite our established presence in the Huanuscuro area and success in construction last year, we encountered several roadblocks in building clean burning stoves in the campo.
After we solidified our relationship with the townspeople, we experienced another hiccup in our initial plan. This time, the physical construction of the stove was the issue. The model we used last year included adobe bricks as the primary component for the base of the stove. Residents of each house were responsible for providing their own adobe bricks and we covered the rest of the materials. However, because of the cold climate during the winter months, the clay of the adobe would crack during the freezing nighttime temperatures.
The solution to our problem was introduced to us by a man at the community meeting. He showed us a pre-made clay stove that could be purchased at the market in several neighboring towns. Although we were wary to change our model, we calculated the price of materials and realized it was almost as cost effective as our former model.
Once we decided to go through with the new model, we worked at an extremely rapid pace.
We started scheduling three households for stove installation per day — a goal that was simply unattainable using the old model. Between the commute to the campo, buying supplies in Puno, and pre-building chimneys at night, our schedule was jam packed.
However, when we got off the convi everyday with stoves in hand, the women of the village treated us like rockstars. This came into sharp contrast with how we were treated when we would carry stoves in the streets of Puno. People would laugh and ask sarcastic questions — like, "Are you going to cook me a meal?" — clearly not understanding the purpose of our work.
At the peak of our stove constructing efficiency, we hit yet another speedbump. One day we were working as usual and a middle-aged, imposing man came up to us and claimed to be the president of Huanuscuro. Furthermore, he claimed we needed to pay a tourist tax. We didn't believe he was the president, as he wasn't in attendance at any of the community meetings. As it turns out, we would later learn that he was indeed the president. However, he did not grow up in Huanuscuro, nor did he have any family connections there. It was explained to us that being the president of a town was more like a status symbol or business venture rather than a point of ancestral association. In fact, presidents have limited terms and normally move from town to town without sustaining any permanent ties. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, Ken and Dr. Ivan diffused the situation nicely and some of the townspeople even defended our presence in their community.
The final count on stoves was 30 and we have a waitlist of houses for next year. Even though we had our obstacles throughout the project, it was always rewarding to see the finished product. The fact that our work is not yet done there will motivate the group to fundraise and make plans for next year.
[Written by David Riva | Photos by Benjamin Antonio, Clare Toeniskoetter, and David Riva]
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