Our Month a Success

We have been home 10 days now, it took a week to get back to normal, sleep, surroundings etc. The Dominican prepared us for the local heat wave, which hasn't bothered me.

We had 7 charcoal stoves made and gave them away to those most in need.

 

The ladies were very excited about being able to cook outside. I followed up the day after and found one of them cooking inside, with a little coaxing, we moved her stove outside where she continued to cook. You know what they say about old habits. By the third week others were asking where they could get their stove for cooking outside. I am working on a program to subsidize the cost of providing 2 stoves for each home in Ascension within one year. The cost of a stove is $10 US, it take a Haitian 3 - 4 months to safe that much money

The Block Stove turned out to be a more of a challenge. The vents pipes I wanted to use are not available in the Dominican, so I had vent pipes made. The insert and pipes turned out to be a bit crude, but they worked.

The next step is to set up both the men who are able to make the metal stoves with the right equipment to efficiently make the insert and pipes required.

I was able to press a briquette from composted grass clippings without any type of binder. This is something I wasn't able to do at home. When I duplicate the process here, I can then write a procedure to start making briquettes at Ascension. There grass clippings were much like our hay or straw here in Canada.

The Loom was a challenge as well. I had a hand saw, 18V drill and a hammer. But I was still able to make the loom, not like I would have with my shop and tools, but it got made. All the hardware I needed, I had purchased before we went to the Dominican.

Some parts will definitely need to be remade in my shop and replaced when I return in March 2012.

Thanks to everyone who supported this project financially and with their prayers.

Dominican Time

Everything runs on Dominican Time, I'm still waiting for pipes for the stove. Dr, Bob, at Crossroads sent his driver for parts and he couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so he got nothing, rightly so. But it took two days for me to find this out and time is running our. We delivered all teh charcoal stoves this week. It is hard to follow up to see if they are using them outside, you never know if they are goinf to be there or when then eat. I have some Dominican grass coposting and should be able to press a briquette today or tomorrow..

We have been here for three weeks and it has been an experience of a life time, but I am starting to yearn for home.

Keep us in your prayers.

My next entry will be from home and I will have numerous pictures of the trip and project

Friday June 24 update

Our access to the internet hasn't been what we expected, so our upadtes will be periodic with a report when we get home in two weeks. We will also have pictures at that time.

We started the block stove this week. The blocks are in plave and the metal nsert has been started. The loom is going well with one glitch in mounting one pullet. Oh has I miss my workshop. I havean 18V drill, short saw and a hammer to work with. Very challenging, but things are working  out.

Stared pressing briquettes this week and will start burning test next week.

Life is an epxerience here, everythign is different, but the experience is well wort the challenges.

HOLA MI AMIGOS

hello my friends

we are in the dominican enjoying the hot sunny weather. we have to men working on creating our stoves. we have asked each of them to make 3. we have ordered the wood for the loom and ordered bricks for the stove. things move slowly down here. Dominican timing is very different.

i am shocked at the kind of community here. its amazing and wonderful. if a villager sees another in need, they stand up for them. they come and get us to help them. they share everything they have with anyone in need. its very different here. but its all in a good way.

dont worry we'll come back.... eventually. :)

all is well. :)

your amigos in Christ,
Christa and Wayne

We Leave Saturday

Saturday, June 11th our flight leaves at 5 PM, arriving in the Dominican 4 hours later. We will be using Sunday as a day to get settled in and start to adapt to our surroundings. Monday will be used to order materials we need for both the Stove and Loom projects and further getting acquainted. Work begins Tuesday.

We will make a effort to make entries on the blog at least twice a week, keeping every one up to date about our activities, pictures are more of a maybe then the entries.

Please keep both Christa and I in your prayers for the month we are in the Dominican, pray we will be responsive to God's Leading and for safety as we work and travel. Also pray for Deb who will be at home worrying about her husband and 'little girl'.

Another Project

We have made an addition to the Stove Project, which has nothing to do with the Stoves. For part of the month of May I worked on making a prototype of a loom that will weave strips cut from milk bags into matts for babies to sleep on. The bottom is cut off the outter milk bag, the balance of the milk bag is cut into 1" strips, they are looped together into an endless 'chain'. In the past these chains have been croched together into small matts and carrying bags. Bigger matts (3' x 5') are required, hence the need of a loom which will be more productive. The protoype was built to provided a matt 15" wide, and it working well. While at the Village of Ascension, we will be building a loom to make a 3 foot wide strip.

The Block Stove

The Block Stove, for use inside the Haitian homes is in the process of being tested. A prototype insert was built and tested, then rebuilt and tested again with positive and acceptable results. See "The Block Stove" page for initial pictures.

Dates are set

At last, our dates are set. We will be leaving Saturday, June 11th at 5 PM, arriving in the Dominican 4 hours later. Christa, our daughter, will be coming with me to help with the project. Our return is scheduled for Saturday July 9th.

Concrete Block Stove

Ideally, the best solution is to remove fumes from the burning charcoal without the fumes entering into the room where the can be breathed by the residences. Secondly, is to have a stove the children will not burn themselves should they come into contact with it. A lady from my church was on the Internet one day and gave me the following address ( http://www.guatemalastoveproject.org/ ) . It is my intent to modify the stove for use with charcoal and green fuels. Modifying the stove and testing will begin as soon as our temperatures are consistently above the freezing mark. Tests will be run in my backyard.



Alternative Fuels - Briquettes

While researching Charcoal Stoves, I came across initiatives around the world to replace charcoal with fuels made from organic materials, such as grass clippings, paper, sawdust food scraps.etc. I have been able to produce briquettes from combinations of shredded paper, saw dust and grass clippings.

As soon as the snow disappears, I will be having a press night and will make a number of briquettes of varying combination of materials for testing in the newly designed stove.



Press and Pressing Equipment

On our trip this past February, two presses were made for making briquettes this summer. These are being stored for our return this June.

It was an interesting process, I had ordered the 2 x 4's, 2 x 6's and bolts prior to our leaving so we could start first thing and not have to take the time to go to the wood yard. The first thing I noticed was the wood was actually 2" x  4" and 2" x 6", not our usual 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" and 1 1/2" x 5 1/2". Our sizes are special order. With the increased sizes, I then had to order longer bolts. We do not have access to equipment, so I will make component parts, for making the briquettes, prior to returning in June.

New Design of Charcoal Stove

I looked at modifying the current stove, but nothing effectively increased the efficiency of the current design. I found a charcoal stove used in a country in Africa that twigged my interest. A couple days later I was in our local hardware store and noticed a small cooking stove in their bar-b-q section. I combined both ideas and came up with a new design. I spent many evenings running one hour tests to see how effective the new design is and was satisfied with the results. My prototype was made from 8" stove pipe 7" long and modified with a pair of metal snips. Pictured below is the first prototype, made by a Haitian craftsman. Believe it or not, he used a cold chisel and hammer to cut out the shape.



The Stove Project

The Stove Project began in April  2009 on a trip to a Haitian village in the Dominican. I witnessed a charcoal stove in a small house, with next to no ventilation. When I asked out guide why they cooked inside, she explained that to cook outside, any amount of breeze would make the charcoal burn faster. The Haitians have little to no money, to conserve charcoal to cook what little food they have, they cook inside. This has resulted in lung diseases among the women and children being burned from walking into the stove. My project was to redesign the stove so it could be used outside in a moderate breeze.