Sweat gleams on students’ faces as they assemble roofs in a factory thousands of miles from the University of Oregon and wrestle with the question, “Am I really making a difference?”
The students are in Guatemala, participating in an alternative spring break program through the Holden Center which allows them to partner with Stoveteam International.
Alex Burgdorfer, the trip leader, said he struggled with that question until the day he delivered a stove to a family inside their home.
“Seeing their reaction afterward was priceless,” he said. “The woman was overjoyed and began to cry a little bit. It was hard to comprehend prior to going down to Guatemala that a stove could make such a big impact.”
Stoveteam International is an organization founded by Eugene resident Nancy Hughes. It consists of factories that produce Ecocina stoves for families that would otherwise cook using open fires, a cooking process that causes four million deaths yearly.
“This is really valuable because it puts you in a position to help out and get involved in a foreign community and get involved in understanding global issues outside of the United States,” Burgdorfer said. “It’s a humbling experience to understand how privileged any of us are in the way that we live our lives.”
He said that one of these privileges is owning a fuel-efficient stove, something that many people in Guatemala don’t have.
Without one, women and children spend 20 hours each week gathering firewood, which prevents women from gaining economic status and children from focusing on education, Burgdorfer said. The smoke emitted from open fires also leads to respiratory illnesses.
Through the alternative break trip, students have the opportunity to either help build, transport and clean stoves, or help expand stove production factories.
“We really focus on this idea of being a change maker,” Eric Boggs, Assistant Director of Experiential Learning at the Holden Center, said. “It’s not just about trying to change the world. It’s also the realization that in order to make that change you will need to change yourself.”
Burgdorfer said that this change happens not only by working with Stoveteam International but by interacting with people from different cultures.
“You are working beside people from Guatemala who work that job every day and getting to know them and joking around with them,” he said. “At that point, you’re in the same position almost. You get to understand the people you’re with and they get to understand you in return.”
Nancy Hughes said the awareness of people’s lifestyle in the developing world is important.
“It’s important to understand what the situation is in the countries that are right next to ours,” she said. “On the last trip, one of the students said to me after the first day, I’ve never met anybody I wanted to help more.”
Burgdorfer said that his involvement in Guatemala wasn’t possible without the alternative break program.
“It makes you think about what you experience and how you can better yourself,” he said. “It’s really about exploring, giving back to the community and trying to understand your purpose and your place in society.”