![]() The process continued.Ī few years later Chepita stands in her bakery a little larger than a two-stall garage where the sweet smell of cookies permeates the air. Her second loan allowed for 800lbs and another oven. The first loan she was able to procure allowed her to bake 100lbs of bread. The next thing Chepita knew, she had an oven. She had learned how to bake from her sister-in-law awhile back and thought she just might be able to make it as a baker. They are dangerous, slow, and require a tremendous amount of firewood, with high costs to both the user and the environment. Traditional Nicaraguan ovens are made of dirt and have only one cavity to place coals and baked goods. GPS coordinates are recorded in order to track the location of EOS’ installations for mapping and evaluation purposes. So, Chepita took a chance.Ī fuel-efficient oven is installed in a local community. These savings are significant when living in the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere where the average income is less than two dollars a day.Īlvaro happened to be a friend of Chepita’s sister, who knew he was installing fuel-efficient ovens in the communities surrounding San Isidro, where the EOS offices are located. Moreover, the efficiency of these ovens save families much needed money that would be used to purchase firewood. The ovens are safer to use than traditional Nicaraguan ovens and use ninety percent less firewood, reducing deforestation and preserving the environment. The oven, which consists of a metal barrel surrounded by clay and brick, stands about four feet tall. Their fuel-efficient oven is among several of the simple, life-changing technologies EOS builds and installs in different communities. A nonprofit focused on giving Nicaraguans opportunities to improve their health, generate wealth, and preserve the environment, EOS International has improved over 167,000 lives in Nicaragua since its formation in 2008. As fate would have it, EOS International Country Director, Alvaro Rodriguez, was looking for someone just like her. It wasn’t that long ago that Chepita was jobless and in search of opportunity. But what may be more impressive than the bakery itself, is how it all came to be.Įvery week Chepita’s bakery creates and packages two tons of dough into over twenty different baked products to be sold around Nicaragua. In total, they bake twenty different products including an assortment of cookies and breads. Each week, she and her ten employees produce and package two tons of baked goods that are distributed all across Matagalpa. It’s hard work, but Chepita never thought owning her own business would be a piece of cake. Just a few minutes later, a heap of freshly made bread is pulled out and placed aside to cool. rolls around, the two large brick ovens have already been fired up and trays full of dough bake inside. She then begins to mix.īy the time 8 a.m. She grabs a large bowl and combines water, flour, sugar, yeast, butter, and eggs. ![]() It’s calm right now, but Chepita knows in another couple of hours it will be far from it. A worktable, several chairs, and piles of fifty pound flour bags are scattered throughout the space. When she flips the light switch, the dim bulbs just barely illuminate the mountains of empty tin trays stacked chest-high across the sizable room. ![]() This early in the morning the only noises that fill the cool darkness are the occasional calls of the neighbors’ roosters and the intermittent hum of trucks making their way down the Pan-American Highway. and Chepita Caballero is already starting her day in La Trinidad, Nicaragua. Chepita Caballero stands in her bakery holding a tray of freshly cooked bread in La Trinidad, Nicaragua.
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