Hearthlist Digest #236 - Tuesday, November 24, 1998 Central America by "John Gulland" <[email protected]>
(back) Subject: Central America From: "John Gulland" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 09:40:20 -0500 Craig wrote: > I am making an exception to my normal policy and sending an email note that > was passed to me concerning Central America. I have also watched with > horror as this story unfolded and have been longing to help. This email > provided an excuse for me to actually open the checkbook and send a > donation. Craig is right. The immediate need for relief in Central America is huge and the Red Cross is one of the best conduits for our support. British Columbia retailer Warren Middleton has coordinated with his supplier manufacturers to give $50 to the Red Cross for each stove he sells in November and has gone public challenging other businesses to pledge similar contributions. There are also longer term needs in Central America as the people rebuild their homes. You may recall that I posted to this list the interest of my correspondent Rogerio Miranda in Nicaragua to develop and install improved cooking stoves for the tens of thousands of new houses that must be built. To get a look at the old, unvented traditional stove compared to the improved, vented "Plancha" stove, go here: http://www.ikweb.com/enuff/public_html/Prolena..htm Rogerio wants to maximize chimney performance and stove design as much as possible before the rebuilding gets fully underway. What I didn't mention in my last post was that Wendy and I had planned, before hurricane Mitch, to vacation in Belize in December. My offer a few weeks ago to Rogerio to visit he and his colleagues to consult about stoves and chimneys was accepted. We will travel from Belize to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, which is where the main offices of Rogerio's organization Prolena is located. A formal workshop is now planned: a morning session at the physics department of the university and a practical session at Prolena's development site nearby where test stoves can be run. Prolena is inviting people from the university, other non-governmental organizations and others working on stoves in Guatemala and Nicaragua. This is the list of issues that we have agreed to cover in the workshop. 1. how do chimneys work? what tools can be used to evaluate chimney performance? 2. how can the performance of chimneys be improved? 3. how can the use of chimneys improve combustion and reduce smoke? 4. can stove design be improved if chimneys are used? 5. how can stoves and chimneys be made fire safe? 6. will technical changes be acceptable to the people who use the stoves? 7. what equipment and knowledge is needed for Prolena to create a stove and chimney development laboratory? 8. what further assistance can I offer when I come back home? I will be posting results and photographs of the workshop to a web site and will post here to let you all know. In one of his emails to me, Rogerio said: > John in regard your offer for assistance when back to Canada, I always had > an idea to get sponsors for our improved woodstoves program from the > developed world. Perhaps could be a good cause for the stoves and hearth > industry in Canada and USA to sponsor our woodstoves projects in Honduras > and Nicaragua. As you will see john, it is a simple technology but that > makes enormous difference in peoples life. I think our industry could make a huge contribution to Prolena's efforts to improve the lives of the poor people of Central America through improved wood cooking stoves. Because of differences in climate and usage, they can't use our technologies "off the shelf", but our industry knows a lot about solid fuel combustion, testing, materials usage and fabrication and could assist Prolena to adapt it and develop indigenous technologies that meet people's needs. We are in Central America from December 4 to 18th and the workshop is on the 14th. I'll let you know how it goes. Regards, John This is for business: http://www.gulland.ca/ This is for pleasure: http://www.wood-heat.com/