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.
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.
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.
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