Trees, Water & People (TWP) has partnered with the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Colorado (RPCVCO) on a first-of-its-kind undertaking by an RPCV group that connects a U.S.-based development NGO with serving Peace Corps Volunteers in El Salvador to provide local communities with the necessary training to produce inexpensive, clean, and efficient cookstoves.
“I learned more about the work that Colorado-based nonprofit Trees, Water and People (TWP) does — and thought the fact that it was founded by an RPCV and that they provided blueprints for how to build cookstoves seemed like a better fit for Peace Corps Volunteers,” says Arianne Burger (Kazakhstan 99-01), President of RPCVCO, “I also thought that it would be an amazing way for our group to celebrate Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary.”
Peace Corps Volunteers will work with TWP’s El Salvador partner organization Arboles y Agua para El Pueblo (AAP), who will conduct 3 regional training workshops on how to build fuel-efficient cookstoves in communities where Volunteers are currently serving.
Each Volunteer will then return to their respective local communities to organize their own trainings. The budget of $9,000 will pay for 3 regional workshops a year, with 45 total volunteers trained, and 60 local community leaders trained (105 total). This budget amount will cover the cost of travel and accommodations for the training, as well as materials and supplies for each person to build a stove during the training.
To raise funds for the pilot project, RPCVCO will be selling screen prints designed by Idaho Stew + Ink Lounge. Click here to purchase a poster and help support this innovative partnership (See poster below).
To learn more about the Peace Corps Clean Cookstove Project click here.
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Livelihoods 