Finishing the Project

The timeline for construction and purchasing of materials has come to a close this Nov 13th. The funds are officially spent and I recently turned in the final project.

Completed Items:

-All 23 brick ovens are built and fully functioning

-The house for the community brick oven is up and looking nice, near the school

-Community trees at the church were planted (over 100 lapacho trees)

what does this tree look like? It can come in orange, pink and yellow

Heres the tree it will be and the church yard with the little plants.

-Personal family trees to the best of my knowledge were also planted (10-50 per family)

-Worm tank (leftover brick and cement) was constructed and worms (californian short worms great for manure) were brought from nearby town.

A view of the brick tank and its top-to keep chickens and rain out

-16 Bee hive brood boxes (op. for starting beekeeping) were purchased and bees are in the process of being captured or transfered to these boxes working with interested bee farmers.

Heres one of the brood boxes all set up with a hive captured under some shade. Farmers were investigating it in the Day Camp on Soil Renewal that we did this November.

-Oven cooking classes- We did one big cooking class together- how to do cake in the oven, then family by family we had personal classes.

Hope to get a few more photos of cooking in action!

Project Changes:

Why did we decide to build a worm tank and buy modern langstroth brood bee boxes?

There was leftover money from the fall of the price in cement and bricks locally to allow for other expenditures. Leftover bricks and cement easily makes a nice worm tank since worms cant get out and chickens cant get in. Lombriculture is something the local engineer of soil renewal recommended the town and many farmers were interested. It will improve the garden crops, trees and citric trees of the area. Ideally, the community will use the manure of the tank for their gardens and when there are enough worms, they can produce their own worms in their own closer to home worm tank. So far the worms seem happy and are fast producers.

As for the brood boxes (location of most brood- baby bees), there is great interest in converting over to modern hives in town in order to produce better honey, so we decided to use the rest of the funds on the boxes. Many farmers see the benefits of beekeeping but now want to try using modern hives in addition to kenyan top hives that are a bit more messy to use with less production. The brood boxes should give the beekeepers the start up capital to work bees, sell honey and benefit from their produce so that they can make their own supers and buy their own bee equipment in the future.

The project continues:

Hopefully the community will continue using their brick ovens and try new healthier ways to eat.

They do have various trained brick layers to fix brick ovens and maintain them and if other members of the community want brick ovens, they can also make them.

Ideally the community will use their knowledge to continue planting to have trees for fire wood and for various other important needs.

The school and community will learn with time how to take advantage of the community brick oven cooking together, especially the children if they get the garden going with their new running water.

Sorry to have not posted in a while, but I hope to continue blogging in order to clear up questions and insight interest in how the project is going.

closing in on the community project

The community fogon at the elementary school is built and the house for it is enclosed and has its roof, doors and windows and is just missing a few touches!
So what does this mean? It means all of the basic components of the project are complete. What does that mean? It means its time for an in-project celebration! We bought some meat and supplies with the womens committes funds and will have a party with some tunes at the community shed/tinglado!
Then what? Cant just party and let it go! We will continue with meetings and do some cooking classes together and with the kids at the school for healthier recipes and proper use of fogones. Baked empanadas are a current favorite, much less oil and much cheaper.
Then? I was hoping for a solicitude for seeds to have arrived but unfortunately it hasnt. The majority are planting their own, bought or found.
Ha upei? And Then? Yeah, some prices went up and some went down so there is leftover funds. Not much, but enough to do a few things. We made a worm growing tank for compost for community gardens. A local engineer will donate the worms or we will buy them from German town nearby. We made the tank out of the leftover bricks and cement. There are still funds and I believe I will work with the agricultural committee to get those interested in a modern bee hive. A lot of people are lacking that startup infrastructure and the more bees, the more honey theyll have and then the more hives and tools they can buy for themselves. A local cooperative will also supply more advanced tech classes on beekeeping for those interested. Should be fun!
All for now, what a hoot!
-DeGrush

Fogon Progress Update

We have finished all of the members fogons, all 22 fogons and they are all working wonderfully. Many have been using the ovens and trying new recipes and notice the diference on their impact on health. We have enjoyed the end of a cold winter sitting around the brick ovens without all the smoke of floor fires.
The community and especially the parent's school commission has been working to create the school kitchen house. It will be about 3meters by 3meters plenty enough for instruction and for the fogon space. The basic frame is already set and the wood is all there. Once that is set the bricklayer will make the community fogon and then we are set for construction!
Hope to keep writing more updates!
All for now!
-Laura

Almost Done Making Fogones

Before I head out for a vacation birthday trip, I wanted to update folks back home how the project is going. The bricklayers have had great success in effeciently making quality brick ovens. They have made two fogones per day this past week and a half and each fogon has turned out well. I have been visiting and helping the work also, making sure things go smoothly. All the materials such as brick and cement have arrived so they can finish and work continually. By Tuesday there should be 21 fogones set. Then the two bricklayers will do their family fogones by wednesday or thursday. The womens groups funds and community funds will go towards building the school fogon shelter. Extra bricks and materials might upon group consensus go towards building a community worm manure tank to be used for gardens and fields. Other extra funds due to dropped prices will have to be discussed. There might be interest in making cement top latrines for more higiene, equipment for planting more trees or similar community health oriented goals. I will notify any changes and take more photos of the results! All for now! Suertemante- Good Luck

fundraiser night

St Johns Festival or San Juan Ara is big in Paraguay and there are certain traditional games always played. We did a fundraiser to increase the funds that the womens group has by celebrating San Juan Ara. Ara in Guarani means time or sky. We covered entradas or entry tickets and with the tickets did a raffle for a huge chipa (traditional cheesy cornbread) which my neighbor mom called a tractor wheel it was so huge! They also sold 40 chipa inside the community and got a good profit from that.
The first important element of San Juan partys are the Kamba, or dressed up ghostlike backfield spooky characters kind of like halloween. This year the Kamba were quite clever and dressed up as Laura, Matt (the last volunteer) and other local community members. Its a way to make silly comments on people without them knowing who is inside the costume. I turned out to be a very large man and a short skirt and they said that my purpose in the community was to sell soap and that I dont know how to dance. Matt was called a crazy beekeeper.
Here are some photos of the Kamba
On the side is Kamba Matt in shrubs and I in a skirt dancing
Then theres the game of run and get a twig through a small ring

Then they set things on fire, footballs, hay, fake people dollies

Then theres the game of find the hidden Beer in the ground

then theres the slippery log to climb, covered in pig fat and soap. Its got chipa, candy and sugar cane whisky on top, worth ruining your clothes for apparently.
Kamba Laura in her short skirt proved the best at climbing the pole and getting everything down.
Then one of the other activities is heraokai or nameburn game. If you dont pay 1mil when called a doll will burn in your name. We loaded it with small explosives. Everyone practiced how to say Degrush especially for this game. Its usually a blast.
It was a fun night and got us some more funds to better pay our brick layer and any small thing for the project to turn out well.

Project Update- Construction Begins!

Our materials have arrived and the families worked hard to distribute them. We did a lottery and started working this last week, rain and all, with various families and two brick layers. The results have all been great, each fogon or brick oven coming out very well. The families seem real happy and excited and have tried all sorts of dishes in the oven already. It also has been real nice to see quick results this week since its been real cold down in the 40s and the oven heats up the kitchen real well without the smoke.
Here are some photos of the construction process_
First we had to make the mix_ Sand, red dirt, molasses and a bit of cement for the chimney. The kids had some fun preparing that up.

then the brick layers took some measurements, took out some kitchen wall boards for the chimney and began! First they worked together and then split up to make the other fogones by themselves.
Here laying out the basic form

Here they are putting in the ashpit

Here they are setting in the metal oven and placing the iron plate for boiling and frying.


Here they are working on the chimney, nice and chilly in the rain!


Here we are drinking mate and trying it out already. As it begins to dry the smoke is already circulating well and going outside the chimney instead of inside. People are real happy and warming up!
Here we have tried out the oven and within 20 minutes the oven was real hot and within 30 minutes we made traditional chipa almidon, or corn bread with cheese and mandioca casssava starch

Here is another fogon done at a diferent house there are a total of 5 fogones already made and when more bricks are ready we will continue with the lottery to construct fogones for those who have paid up to the committee monthly cuota, have the molasses made and the workers ready.

Metal Oven and Plancha Iron Board

We hired a company in San Lorenzo near the capital Asuncion to bring us fogon brick oven making parts.

They came today and made it to Caazapa. Soon a smaller truck will bring them all the way down the dirt road to the community shed in Ytororo.

But the materials look good and the project is on its way! Here are some photos of the parts Im talking about.

´

Plancha means iron for ironing or in this case for cooking!

Horno means oven, in this case a metal casing that fits inside the set bricks to keep the oven form. Cookies and pizzas here we come! Not to meantion maybe something healthy!

How to Build a Fogon

WHAT DO YOU NEED?
WHY BUILD A FOGÓN ?

Using a fogón
improves a family’s
health. Smoke leaves
the kitchen through
the chimney and a
raised cooking
surface keeps
children away from
the open flame. The
oven in a fogón is
always hot allowing a
family to bake food.

MATERIALS TOOLS
350 bricks (450 with brick chimney) mason’s trowel
2 meters of rebar bucket
1 chimney * hoe
1 metal oven level
1 plancha string
1m³ red dirt hack saw
* An aluminum chimney can be used or one can build a
brick chimney with 100 bricks and a quarter bag of cement.

THE MIXTURE
The mud used in a fogón should have a fair
amount of clay in it. An ideal mix of 25% sand and
75% pure clay is a good mixture for both the building
of the fogón and the mud plaster. If there is not
red dirt available, use black mud. Do not add cement
to the mix because it will crack when heated. You
can add cow manure or molasses to the mix to
strengthen it, but with the right clay-to-sand ratio, it
should not be necessary.

PREPARING THE BASE

Begin by leveling
off the ground.
Lay bricks on the
ground without
mud. The fogón
will be 2 1/2
bricks wide and 7
1/2 bricks long or
longer. On the end
of the fogón,
where the oven
will be, lay 1 1/2
bricks. This will
be a wall that will
help support the
weight of the
oven. The support
wall should be
about 50 cm from
the inside edge of
the fogón. If your
bricks are shorter,
make the fogón 62
cm wide and 180
cm long on the
outside. The length
can be extended to
180 cm for more
wood.
50 cm
Make sure the
fogón is square by
measuring from both
opposite corners until
the distances are equal.
Run a string from the
corners so that the
bricks will be straight
when you lay them.

BUILDING THE TOP OF THE FOGÓN
Continue bricking
layers. Keep using
a string so the
walls will be
straight. Also, use a
level to so that the
layers are level and
that the corners are
plumb. Stagger the
bricks, starting in
corners, so that
spaces in between
bricks never are
right above each
other.

FILLING THE BASE
This part of the fogón should be 6 to 8 layers
high so that small children cannot reach the fire and
animals cannot reach the food. You can make the
fogón even higher depending upon the height of the
person who will be using it. When you have reached
the height you want, fill the box with any kind of
dirt. Make sure that it is well compacted so that it
will not settle over time.

COVERING THE BASE
The base of the fogón should be filled with dirt
and a small space should be left for a layer of
bricks to be layed. Lay the bricks level without
mud. After placing the layer of bricks on the
base, cover the bricks with mud.

THE TOP OF THE FOGÓN
Now that the table is
done, start laying the
oven box and arms for
the plancha to rest on.
The inside of the oven
box should be 60 cm
long. This leaves about
8-10 cm of free space on
three sides of the oven. If
there is not enough space
around the oven, make
the box larger. The arms
for the plancha should be
at least as long the
plancha. Leave a space
between the oven box
and the plancha arms 1/2
a brick wide.
50 cm
60 cm
1/2 brick wide

SETTING THE PLANCHA
After laying 3
layers on top of
the table, lay the
plancha on top of
mud-covered arms
of the fogón. The
largest hole in the
plancha should
face away from
the oven. Lay a
couple of pieces of
rebar on top of the
bricks in the oven
box for the oven to
rest on.

PLACING THE OVEN
Place a whole brick
over the space between
the oven box and the
plancha without covering
the plancha. Removal
of the plancha is
important for cleaning
purposes. Next, brick
up three sides of the
oven box leaving the
front open.

Lay a thick bed of
mud on the front side of
the oven box. Set the
oven in place on top of
the mud. It should be
resting on the rebar
with equal open space
on all three sides.

Keep bricking up
the oven box. Make
sure that there is plenty
of mud between the
edge of the brick and
the oven.

The empty space around the oven permits the hot air
to freely circulate and go out the chimney. This empty
space around each side of the oven is very important to
assure that the air circulates and the soot does not accumulate
in the oven nor in the chimney. The chimney
should be at the same level or higher than the oven.
The chimney
should be placed outside
of the house. It’s
important that at
least 15 cm. are left
between the roof,
wall and the chimney.

BRICK CHIMNEY
The brick chimney
requires the same
method of construction
of the fógon by leaving
a space to later build
the chimney around and
outside.
Outside on the ground below
the space where the chimney
will extend from the
fogón, begin to build a base.
Build the base with sufficient
space between the wall of the
The ideal mud
mixture has a few
buckets of cement to
assure that the chimney
doesn’t fall.
Build the base to the
height of the oven.
On each side of the
base, set bricks on their
sides with the mud mixture,
forming a tunnel that
facilitates the escaping
smoke. Cover the two
sides with a layer of
bricks, leaving a small
space at the end to extend
the chimney.
After constructing the
tunnel, build upwards,
continuing to stack
bricks on their sides, using
the mud to hold them
in place.
Continue to build up the
chimney to the height of
the roof of the house. Build
a small roof for the chimney
using 4 bricks. The
roof keeps the rain out of
the chimney.

COVERING THE OVEN
When you
have reached the
top of the oven it
should have equal
space around three
sides..
Over the oven
door, place a piece
of rebar or old machete
to keep the
oven from bending
from the weight of
bricks. Also, the
oven can be removed
for cleaning.
Lay mud on top
of the oven and
keep bricking up
the oven for two
more layers.
To top off the
oven, lay 4 pieces of
rebar over the oven
box. Lay mud around
the edge and arrange
the bricks so the
oven is completely
covered. Cover this
layer with mud and
add another layer.

THE FINAL PRODUCT
To ensure that the
oven is airtight, take
mud in your hands and
smear it on the fogón.
Red dirt, molasses,
manure can all also be
used. The fogón is
also more pleasing to
the eyes.

PLASTERING THE FOGÓN
Once the fogón
is completely covered
with mud, take a
wet sponge and run it
over the entire fogón
smoothing out the
mud layer. This
helps fill in the small
holes and seals the
fogón.

RESOLVING COMMON
DIFFICULTIES
1. The smoke doesn’t go out the chimney.
*The chimney isn’t placed well. Place it level with
the oven in order for the smoke to exit efficiently.
*The chimney and/or the oven are covered in soot.
Place rebar or a piece of an old machete at the top
of the oven in order to take the oven out easily
when cleaning it. Build the chimney with enough
support to be able to take a few bricks out of the
elbow to clean it.
2. The bottom of the chipa guazu, etc. is burning
*The oven is placed to high. Place the oven at a
level lower than the plancha.
*There’s not enough space around the oven for the
air to circulate. Be sure to leave enough space
on the three sides of where the oven will sit for
proper circulation.
3. The oven doesn’t heat up.
*The air isn’t circulating properly. Try to clean the
oven and the chimney. Verify that there is enough
space around the oven for the air to circulate.

ALTERNATIVE FOGONES
There are many
models of fogóns
you can build
depending on the
materials in your
area. The most
important things
with a fogón are
that the smoke is
drafted out through
the chimney, the
oven stays hot, and
the fire is protected
from children.

ADDING AN ASH PIT TO YOUR FOGÓN
1. Begin building your
ash pit by filling the base
of the fogón with dirt up
to the third layer of
bricks.
28 cm. in length
2. Place 3 bricks on their sides,
forming a tunnel. Close the end
of the tunnel with a brick.
3. Place 7 bricks on
their sides bridging the
gap of the tunnel.
4. Cover the remaining
part of the tunnel with 3
bricks laid fla t. Fill the
exterior space with dirt.
5. Place a second layer of
bricks laid flat on top of the
original walls. Fill the space
around the walls of the tunnel
with dirt to the level of the
rest of the base of the fogón.
6. Build up the base of the
fogón to reach 7 layers of
bricks. The height depends on
the principal person using the
fogón. The opening of the ash
pit should be 7-10 cm wide
and 7-10 high.
VARIATIONS
7. Build the brick arms on which
the plancha will be placed with
sufficient space between the
two. Use at least 2 liters of
Money or molasses in the mud
mixture. Place 3 levels of bricks
for each arm. The opening for
wood should be 25 cm. Wide
and 20 cm high.
8. Assure that the plancha is level.
Continue to lay bricks on both sides
of the plancha. These bricks will
help prevent accidents, burns, etc.
9. Place a layer of bricks on
top of the base of the fogón,
leaving a small space between
the bricks to clean. This layer
of bricks begins the box where
the oven will be placed.
10. Place the oven using
rebar or other material in
order to assure that 7-10
cm of space is left below
the oven and that it is
level. Also, 7-10 cm of
space should remain on
all of the sides of the
oven for the air to properly
circulate.
11. Place 4 pieces of 6-8 mm
rebar on top of the oven when
laying the second layer of
bricks around the oven. The
rebar provides support to the
bricks covering the top of the
oven as well as the chimney.
12. Begin to form a box with 4
bricks, leaving a space the size
of half a brick for the smoke to
exit the fogón.
13. This column should
be placed on top of the
fogón and will be the
base for the chimney.
Every layer will use four
bricks.
14. The chimney should be
built directly up through the
roof and ought to be taller
than the roof.
15. Place a small roof on
top of the chimney, allowing
for smoke to exit and
to keep water out. A simple
way to build the roof is
to place 4 nails in each
corner in a bed of mud.
Use wire to secure the roof
to each of the nails.
16. This is a
smoke regulator
made of common
metal and is used
to control fire size
and smoke level.
Place it before the
mud mixture dries.
Remove and replace
the smoke
regulator until it
can be removed
easily. Leave it in
place when not using
the fogón.
17. Put this brick in place upon finishing the fogón. Place mud in
the space and not on the brick. Use a brick that fits snuggly in the
space. The brick should be able to be removed easily for clearing.
18. Enjoy your new
fogón with your family!

Proposal for Brick Ovens

Partnership Program Proposal
¨Fogones¨ Brick Oven Health and Food Preparation Project
Women’s Committee ¨Kuña Joaihu¨ Women Happy Together

Community Ytororö
Yuty District, Caazapa Department, Paraguay
By Laura DeGrush
Beekeeping-Agricultural Sector




Proposal Summary

The community of Ytororö represented by the women’s committee wants to improve, as their goal, their health standards by means of better methods of food preparation of local main crops, garden vegetables and fruits already available. They are concerned about the health damages of continually cooking over floor-fires where smoke is inhaled and food is often fried. In order to reach their goal the women’s committee plans to construct 22 brick ovens, locally called ¨fogones, ¨ for the members and one community brick oven for instructional purposes and community food product sales. The brick ovens include iron-plates for cooking various pots simultaneously, chimneys to eliminate smoke-inhalation, raised fire surfaces away from endangering animals and small children and ovens instead of continually frying foods. To ensure the sustainability of the brick ovens the members of the women’s committee agreed to plant and care for ten trees per each member and at least ten more for the community. They also plan to meet and have classes on brick oven uses and healthier recipes. The womens committee’s plan to construct brick ovens, work on healthier cooking and plant trees is a promising solution to the community’s health and food preparation concerns.

Proposal Guidelines
Community Needs:
Food preparation affects all members of the community of Ytororö from those cooking to those consuming. The community expresses brick ovens for better food quality and cooking environment as a pressing need. Various families introduced the desire for brick ovens and the women’s group united together to achieve this urgent need. The women’s committee also has the support of the local agricultural committee and the nuclear base (interconnecting all groups) community group.
The benefits of brick ovens cover local concerns expressed about food preparation and also some less apparent local concerns. Fogones allow for cooking more than one pot at a time which may increase the variety of food types consumed improving local diet. As an oven, they will also allow for much more food cooked instead of fried or boiled. Continually frying adds too much fat and boiling takes out nutrients of foods. This may relieve the common problems of high-blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes in the community. Because the ovens have chimneys, this should relieve symptoms of coughs and lung problems most women get from cooking and sitting over a floor-fire. The family often gathers in the kitchen, especially in the winter and eliminating the smoke by the presence of a chimney will also benefit everyone. The ovens are also elevated fixtures and should eliminate chronic back problems that local women have from cooking on the floor. As for the community brick oven, it should benefit activities done together with the women’s group, the juvenile group, the agriculture group, the church group and the school. It should be a didactic tool for teaching healthier food preparation practices and should be a method to cook together for events and sales for local funds. Another benefit from the brick oven project will be more local trees and awareness in the importance of the investment into reforestation.
The project encompasses a pressing need of the community and will need to be completed with the support of the entire community to be able to be funded. Individual families will find it very difficult to construct brick ovens alone. In larger numbers brick oven resources are much easier to obtain and it is easier to obtain funds together working as a community than individually. It will be easier to obtain knowledge and work with constructors in a group. Building brick ovens might fail without group support and outside help but with a well managed committee with community and outside support there is great potential for the project’s success.

Project Community Initiated and Directed:
The community and especially the women’s committee understand and accept that the brick oven project is their project and it matches their concerns and goals. The idea of constructing brick ovens was proposed by various women of separate families as an ideal community improvement. The women’s group was formed out of united interest in better health and the possibility of a brick oven project. They performed various exercises to work out what were local priorities and brick ovens were high on the list. The members of the committee also understand that it is their project to be managed by them and they are also backed by other local groups that have promised their support. It is also a project supported, although not originally proposed, by non-local government and private company engineers working on development issues in the community.
The entire community will participate in the brick oven project. The women’s committee planned out the details of the project, where and how brick oven parts will be obtained and constructed. The women’s committee also worked together to obtain their own personal project funds. They will plant their trees and care for the community trees. They will assist classes on brick oven maintenance and healthy recipes. The agricultural committee offers their support and experience in the management of committees and projects. They also offer their storage space for the loading and storage of brick oven parts. The church group and local families are responsible for the creation of the hut for the community brick oven, the parts and construction. Each family will help with the loading and distribution of brick oven parts to their destinations. Each family is also responsible for doing the physical labor that the local carpenter-brick-layer directs. The families are also responsible for putting up food for the workers and ingredients for future recipes practiced by the women’s committee.

Project Plan:
The women’s committee has constructed a plan utilizing various local and national resources to achieve their goals. They have raised funds by selling goods and making activities to help with local project contribution. They have looked for the best prices for bricks, the iron plates and metal ovens and where and how to get them to the community. They will temporarily employ a local brick-layer carpenter to make each brick oven with the help of the families. They will buy local bricks from a neighboring community. The metal oven box and the iron-plate will be bought from a national store that has experience working with various brick oven projects. Local trees and skill workers will be used for the community brick oven house. Local ingredients will be used to practice recipes together with the women’s committee. The women’s committee made a proposal to the Forestry Institute in their region for tree seeds but most seeds will be obtained locally by selecting them in season. Future brick oven care, food preparation knowledge and tree planting will be in the hands of individual families and the women’s group that plans to continue meeting.

Project Time-line:
Week 1:
Begin looking for local seed varieties for planting depending on trees desired and their seeding season. Bring proposal to San Juan de Nepucemo for tree seeds and plants. Begin purchasing and ordering brick oven parts: bricks must be made if not pre-made which may take a few weeks.
Week 2:
Retrieval of tree donations and begin their care: watering, shade, transplanting
Retrieve brick oven parts depending on their availability.

Week 3-5, (First Month):
Retrieval of brick oven parts, distribution and accounting of amounts arrived, local transportation of parts to families by ox cart and wheel barrows. Lottery of whose brick ovens are made in what order. Each brick oven should ideally be made in two days. Families must be present and physically help with the work so that the carpenter’s work is not overbearing. Meetings should continue throughout the first month and throughout the project to analyze its effectiveness and progress.
Second Month:
Carpenter and families will continue brick oven construction. The church group and families will also begin construction of the house for the community brick oven which should take approximately a week to properly finish. Meetings will continue for project discussion and the start of classes on brick oven uses and healthier recipes.
Third Month:
The community brick oven should be used for community events, for the school for dynamic purposes and for selling goods for committee funds. The committee and community as a whole should start reviewing how the project is going.
Fourth Month:
Analysis of project, fix problems. The women’s committee plans to continue meeting for future projects and activities.


Community Contribution:
The community will contribute to the project a mix of direct cash, raw materials, transportation and labor. The community has raised a sum of money through selling foods, lottery-drawing items and themed-events. The community will procure their own rebars for the brick oven supports and their own molasses to strengthen the brick casting mix out of local sugar cane harvests. The labor to transport bricks and other materials will also be part of the community contribution. Each family will also contribute their time and effort to follow the constructor’s orders to make the brick ovens together. The community hut for the community brick oven will be made completely out of local community wood and all additional nails, tools and materials will be provided by the community. The space, transportation and work to keep trees will be all community provided. The ingredients for later cooking classes will be provided among the members of the women’s group. Thus, the community is contributing through their own funds, planning, transportation, raw materials and labor where possible.

Indicators of Success:
New skills and life quality: By the end of the project, the members of the women’s committee should learn and employ healthier cooking practices. This should be quantifiable by how many women assisted the cooking classes, how many women use their brick ovens especially for cooking instead of frying foods and how many of the women have profited from the community brick oven for didactic or sale purposes. It should also be qualifiable by how the women feel about their brick ovens and the community oven, if they feel like they eat healthier and inhale less smoke.

Improved Management Capacity: By the end of the project, the members of the women’s committee should learn new skills in group management that locally women did not have before the creation of the group. They should learn how to make proposals, plan project timelines, analyze priorities, take on leadership roles and committee positions, and be able to participate and voice opinions in groups and analyze the success of projects.
Connections to Similar Groups: By the end of the project the women’s committee should learn from and have strong ties with the other local committees for better community union and also connect with local groups working with community development such as government engineers and private company engineers in the local town of Yuty.
Improved Decision Making: Through the project the members of the women’s group should also acquire skills in how to decide the methodology and details of projects. They should learn how to form opinions and participate and not be passive members. This can be quantifiable in how many people talk relevantly in meetings or qualifiable through how well they react to challenges.

Community Background:
Ytororö is a small community in the district of Yuty in the department of Caazapa of Paraguay of about forty families or 280 people. Most of the families work on plots of land of about three or four hectares with crops such as mandioca (a.k.a. yucca or cassava), beans, corn, peanuts, sesame and cotton. Ytororö in Guarani means roughly a waterfall or stirring water; most of the inhabitants speak in Guarani or mixed Guarani-Spanish. The community stretches about 5,000 meters by 2,000 meters and has a basic elementary school, community church and community locale storage building. The community has worked with one previous Peace Corps volunteer in the agriculture and apiculture sector.
The people of Ytororö are interested in community development, which can be seen in their history of work together. The community was recognized as a settlement about fifty years back. The community has had an agricultural development group back about twenty years and formed as an official committee seven years back. The agricultural committee has been working with different government and private fund engineers and recently completed a project with ¨Finca Escuela, ¨ or Ranch School, studying soil renewal to improve crops with technical assistance; the project will end with the completion of a sanitary water project currently in progress. There has also been work on reforestation, citric trees, beekeeping and agroforestry systems. With the former volunteer and Peace Corps the community constructed a shared storage center. The agriculture president received training in project management with Peace Corps through the project.
Since last January of 2008 a women’s group was started out of interest in better local health and better ways to elaborate local harvests. In February of 2008 they were recognized by the Municipality and Mayor as a committee, called ¨Kuña Joaihu¨ or Women Happy all Together. The secretary of the women’s committee was also trained with Peace Corps in project management. The women’s committee was interested in having more impact on local decisions, slowly trying to empower local women. Using the experience of the agricultural group in project and group management and the support of other local groups, the women’s committee has a great opportunity and potential to work together and learn together on the goal of better health and food preparation.

Original Project Link

http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Brick_Oven_Health_and_Food_Preparation_Project
Here is a link to the original description of the project
It is currently fully funded but the site still aids in explaining its purpose.

Other Community Activities and Groups

Ytororo has a youth group, a women's group, an agricultural group and a church group to mention a few. I have started up a weekly kids Capoeira martial arts/reading/frisbee/duckduckgoose fun hour in different communities. This have been quite successful. This is a photo of us looking at the free ABC free kids magazines.

Heres us trying to play with an American footbal.

The agricultural group is very active in soil improvement, beekeeping, reforestation, gardening, green manure, diversification of crops and moving towards better organic farming. Recently there was a capacitation in soil management with a local cooperative. We learned a few easy and homemade ways to make fertilizers as good or better than leading expensive brands and are much better at feeding the soil's microorganisms along with the plants. We made a mix that will ferment and then be sprayed containing homemade bone flour, limes, sugar cane juice, fresh manure, milk or whey, milk weed and water. Currently smelling up the front of my house. Heres a photo of this nutritious mess. The agricultural group was also responsible for the water project now entering completion. The project will soon be handed over to the community but there is already running water available. Here we are using my faucet! There is a tank and a well that goes along with it. This is a photo of the water control house.

Why Brick Ovens?

http://py-exsharepoint.peacecorps.gov/Program /RHS This should have a copy of how to make fogones in english

Out in rural areas like in Ytororo, people use fires set on the floor inside a kitchen room. These fires are dangerous for children and animals especially but also do continual harm to all the inhabitants. There is a great amount of smoke inhalation with no place for it to vent. They allow for food to be fried and boiled but not baked and frying and boiling takes out nutrients of foods and adds too much fats. Continually working over a fire also burns retinas and can lead to blindness. Many go for cataracts surgery and unneccesary procedures because of the harm floor fires can cause. The other form of cooking locally used is a round brick traditional stove oven called tatakua or firehole. Chipa, sopa corn breads and other cakes are cooked inside tatakuas. Tatakuas are nice and traditional but they create a large amount of sut and smoke. They also use a lot of wood.

Floor Fires and Tatakua

So Why Fogones, Brick Ovens?

Brick ovens allow for boiling and frying various foods simultaneously and also allow cooking. This will diversify what can be cooked and how, enabling better nutrition. They also have chimneys so that smoke is safely led outside of the house. They are elevated and create less problems for small children and animals. they also use wood more efficiently.

On Our Way!

The women's group of Ytororo has been working with me to reach their goal of having local brick ovens which locally are called fogones. They are greatful for your interest and hard work in helping us reach our goals. We are now about to enter some of the steps of planning and purchasing the best and cheapest equipment to start making these fogones. This is a photo taken outside the local church one afternoon with most of the members. We meet, discuss the project, have a healthy snack and plan events together.