Welcome to the Jungle

Dear friends,

The days continue to be hot here, and the drought keeps carrying on.

At Tuqtuquilal the farmers and their families have been facing the impacts of a climate crisis.

“Meteorologists say the conditions have been caused by what some refer to as a heat dome. An area of strong high pressure centered over the southern Gulf of Mexico and northern Central America that blocks clouds from forming and causes extensive sunshine and hot temperatures.”  

According to a news and press release from the government of Guatemala “the country's forests and the animals that live in them continue to be victims of forest fires. Increasing to 40,802 hectares affected in the national territory, according to the database of the Information Management System in Cases of Emergency or Disaster -SISMICEDE- as of May 21 of this year.”

The wildfires and the heat dome create a haze over the community. Reducing the air quality and harming the lungs of its people.

The community is patiently awaiting the delayed rainy season to arrive as many depend on the rains for water supply. People from communities very far away are travelling great distances to rivers and streams because the ones near them have dried out.

May should have been the month in which families plant their corn fields, la milpa. Last year the droughts began with it raining once in mid-May, then did not rain for a month, leaving the seeds to die in the ground. This year it has yet to rain and the fields have not been planted yet. Families are anxious about when or even if the possibility of rain and a milpa for food sovereignty is possible this year.

The lack of rains also means that plants are dying and will continue to die, impacting people's nutrition as well as their economic livelihood.

We are at a critical point.

Many of the farmers' cacao trees are going to die soon if they don’t receive rain. Cacao trees typically take up to 4 years to produce fruit. Many of the trees that are expected to die are just reaching their 4 year mark now. If the trees cannot successfully fruit, then they will lose the 4 years of hard work and have to start over.

Further impacting their ability to sell their cacao and make a living.

This year we were expecting to purchase 6000 pounds of cacao from our farmers in April and only purchased 200 pounds, ending the harvest 2 months earlier than usual.

The drought, heat and fires have severely affected the trees and cacao fruit from developing to their full potential. And with the scarcity of water the animals are coming to get their water from the cacao fruit, opening the pods before they are able to mature on the tree.  

This past weekend we held a community meeting, called an Encuentra, to discuss the matter.

About 100 people came to the meeting, men and women of all ages, and their children. Alex and I filmed the meeting and it was a privilege being there to experience the community gathering. The community speaks Q’echi’ so although we understood nothing we tried our best to follow along and create space for their concerns to be heard. The farmers spoke of dying crops and how their livelihood is at risk. They also spoke about the forest fires, and some took ownership for the fact that many of the fires were man made from the burning of their household waste. This is a community that lives in harmony with nature, and it was clear that as nature has been hurting, so have the people.

After the meeting we transitioned to group presentations where we were to present the projects that we’ve been working on the past couple of weeks. Part of the work that Tuqtuquilal does is developing tools and resources to present to the community to use in their own homes.

We had two major projects to present: the first was something called Hügelkultur. Hügelkultur is a landscaping technique that enriches the quality of the soil and retains water. It’s especially useful during periods of drought, when water usage is restricted.

The second is a rocket stove that Alex and another volunteer named Becky took the lead on designing and building. There were a couple different factors that needed to be considered in the design process.

The materials used needed to be freely (or cheaply) available to the local communities and it needed to be fuel (wood) and smoke efficient - It is common practice to cook in your house here over an open wood fire with no exhaust or chimney. The women here use a clay Comal to do the majority of their cooking. They balance it on 3 large rocks and build the flame up underneath.

There are four main principles needed when designing a rocket stove. Insulation is necessary along the internal tube to ensure the most amount of energy is captured and generated into heat. It is essential that the airflow channels are beneath the fuel source, creating a natural vacuum from the rising heat allowing the fire to burn hotter and cleaner. The maintenance of high-heat is necessary to burn the fuel more completely, reducing waste and pollution.

Finally, a consistent source of fuel ensures congruence amongst the other principles, this is primarily achieved by a gravity fed wood inlet. Utilizing hand pressed clay bricks, cob and sand we formed the basic structure and insulated the stove. We used steel piping for both the chimney and the fuel inlet. And when designing the combustion chamber, it needed to be smaller at the base to capture the heat, but grow in diameter the higher up in order to accommodate the 28” Comal.

During the presentation, we focused on these major principles and how they could adapt the stove to fit whatever conditions that are demanded. Alex explained the process of designing and building the project in english, which was then translated to Spanish by one of the coordinators here, then it was translated to Q’eqchi by one of the Kawas who work here.

We are using this rocket stove to improve the working conditions of the women that toast the cacao at the project. Previously they were toasting the cacao over an open fire inhaling smoke for hours in the beating sun. This tool diverts the smoke and uses significantly less wood, keeping the Comal hot and the fire burning for hours.

The women were very excited to learn about how a rocket stove could improve their conditions, and since the meeting it’s being used weekly to toast all the cacao and balam for the project.

Getting the opportunity to share knowledge and receive knowledge with this community has been a real privilege. Alex and I are community people who understand the benefits it provides us by being part of one. But being a part of a community and actually living in a community let alone working in one are two different things.  

Living in a community is like living with roommates. At Tuqtuquilal we live in shared spaces. There is an expectation of mutual respect. Clean up after yourself and keep our spaces clean. However, as most of you have probably experienced, living with roommates comes with its challenges, and it requires steady and honest communication to work.

Every Monday we have a staff meeting to discuss the plans for the week, and every Friday we have more of a check-in style meeting. We discuss how the weeks have been, where we are emotionally, but also how we are doing within this community. The space that we’ve created for each other has become a space to express our frustrations. And although it doesn’t always solve the problem, it provides understanding where there wasn’t previously any.

Working in a community can be empowering. We have been lucky here to have a strong and committed volunteer team, and to me a well functioning team is like a well oiled machine.

Some days that machine runs well, but some days are long and uncomfortable as living in the jungle comes with its challenges. Power outages, scorpion stings, and dogs getting run over by tuk tuks, (3-wheeled taxi bikes) to name a few. Each day we are asked to pivot and each day is a new opportunity to have some understanding, because some days you just don’t have enough oil in the engine.

Everyday we have to remind ourselves that ultimately we are humans, we are not a machine.

Each day I am reminded to be gracious. To be understanding, forgiving and compassionate. To allow softness.

We must allow that softness to hold others, but most importantly, we must allow that softness to hold ourselves.