2021–22 Report: Global Communities

(Global Communities was formerly known as Project Concern International.)

2021 Donation: $75,000
Donations to date: $225,000

Our donations allowed Global Communities (GC) to plant over 28,200 trees and provide 388 households and 2,328 individuals in the dry western highlands of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, with the tools to lift themselves out of poverty while contributing less to climate change.

In the developing world, families often prepare food over traditional open fires, consuming far more wood than would be necessary with a modern stove. Cooking this way not only results in greater deforestation, it also increases carbon emissions and causes smoke-related health problems. Through their Climate Smart Communities program, GC provides families with clean, fuel-efficient cook stoves, which lower carbon emissions by roughly 50 percent and dramatically reduce firewood-related deforestation and smoke-related health problems. (Did you know that one stove can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of what 30 travelers create by flying round-trip between the US and Europe?) GC also provides tree seedlings for reforestation and installs latrines and eco-friendly water filters — improving sanitation and eliminating the use of firewood to boil water.

Taken together, these initiatives create safer and healthier households that consume less firewood, emit less carbon, and directly stem deforestation. (So far, our funding has allowed GC to provide enough fuel-efficient stoves and water filters to conserve over 6,798 metric tons of cut firewood and reduce CO2 emissions by over 11,878 tons over their useful life.) And to ensure these communities thrive for the years to come, GC puts women at the center of the effort by training them to maintain the stoves, promote household health, and manage the reforestation effort.

Next year, GC will enroll 100 new households into their Climate Smart Communities, provide cook stoves and water filters, replant over 2,100 trees, and continue to give local women the tools to ensure the project's long-term success.

Donation: $150,000

Our donation helped Project Concern International (PCI, a Global Communities Partner) implement their “Carbon Capture” initiative to distribute firewood-saving stoves, start reforestation activities, and improve sanitation for rural families in the Western Highlands region of Guatemala.

In February, to start the program and guide their efforts, PCI surveyed 308 households, or roughly 1,600 people in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Their key findings: only 18 percent of the families used firewood-saving stoves, 35 percent did not have a latrine, and most obtained their water by harvesting and boiling rainwater using firewood. As a result, in addition to starting reforestation efforts, PCI focused on providing water-purifying filters, eco latrines, and clean-burning, fuel-efficient stoves to many of these highly vulnerable households.

Despite COVID-19 shutting down community activities and restricting access to the area for months, PCI reached every household in the community and gave them the tools to help fight climate change. As a result, 168 new latrines were constructed, 252 families have climate smart cookstoves, 306 use safe, eco-friendly water filters, and 10,000 trees were reforested. Taken together, these initiatives will alleviate the health issues associated with cooking and sleeping in the same room, end the destruction of 3,500 trees each year for firewood, prevent the spread of waterborne diseases that cause malnutrition and stunting in children, and create a renewable source of fuel. Another benefit: Women and girls will now able to focus on school instead of collecting firewood.