Puerta means "door" in Spanish. We pray that we would be able to help open doors to give families in Puerta Abajo, Guatemala a new life through stoves and Empowerment.
Our Mission
Our work in both the US and Puerta Abajo, Guatemala alike centers around the goal of empowerment. Through promoting health and well-being we hope to see individuals freed from chains of sickness, failure, and defeat. The PACE initiative embodies our mission by facilitating endurance and active living. Our Created program empowers women in Puerta Abajo both creatively and financially. Overall, through the main stove initiative we hope to see the overall well-being and productivity of the Puerta Abajo community uplifted in a love-filled process. We use a portion of the funds to hire a group of men in the village to execute the installation of the stoves in order to provide them with a job. Through this process, we hope to eliminate the idea that the Puerta Project is simply giving and the village is receiving. In the same regard, participants of PACE are not simply giving to the Puerta Project but are cultivated to live well. Our goal is to empower by providing each community with a role in the process of promoting healthy lives.
Open Doors. Open Hearts.
OUR STORY
After building close relationships with the community of Puerta Abajo, Guatemala, the family of José Ismael Ramírez Perez and Mayra Ileana Urízar de Ramírez from Guatemala City, became aware of a prevalent health concern within the village. Due to minimal cooking supplies, the women cook over open fires which floods their homes with smoke and becomes the causation for severe respiratory diseases. As a result, Mayra and Ismael, began fundraising within their church for wood-efficient stoves that would remove the smoke from the homes. Additionally, these stoves would allow families to buy significantly less wood which helps to mitigate both environmental and financial concerns.
Stoves = an economic, environmental, and health solution
From 2013-2014, we raised enough funds to purchase 20 stoves and hire a group of local men to build them during the summer of 2014. Additionally, our micro financing venture, Created, began in 2015 and continues to sell a variety of crocheted products throughout the US. In 2016, we installed an additional 15 stoves, provided competitive wages during the construction process to unemployed men, and repaired any stoves from previous installments that had experienced weather damage. As of 2017, over 45 stoves have been installed and we know that the best is yet to come.
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Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20