FIRST BATCH OF MAYON STOVES

July 5, 2011

Perla Manapol (pictured at the left) is the president of an organization known as Sustainable Rural Enterprises based in Aklan, Philippines.  Her fervour to help the poor and at the same time helping the environment is contagious.  She initially infected Ambassador Benny Tan (pictured on the right) with the concept of stoves that burn waste materials giving the masses an alternative to cutting down trees for fuel.  In turn Ambassador Tan infected Dennis Drake and Juviro Hagup  (pictured in the center) of IDEA Philippines with the vision.  Now a group of deaf men working with IDEA Philippines are producing these wonderful rice hull burning stoves.  Ambassador Tan even gave a grant  for 100 stoves which will then be made available to low income people on Bohol.  IDEA hopes to introduce these stoves in Leyte and employ some of the deaf high school graduates there as well.

So here stands the team of promoters behind the first batch of Mayon stoves to come off the still crude but improving, assembly line at the IDEA Philippines shop.  It was great to have Perla to demonstrate the proper way to use the stoves and give the IDEA staff tips on marketing them.  In her demonstration of the stove and only using rice hulls as fuel, she was able to get one liter of water to a boil in only six minutes.  That’s a hot fire.

Ambassador Tan demonstrates lighting technique for the stove.

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Hooked on Bohol

Mike Hoiness of Yellowstone Fly Goods is a great friend to IDEA.  He has been making an annual trips to the island of Bohol to train IDEA’s deaf students and young adults in the art of tying flies.  Not all those who try have the skill or natural talent to learn this very precise work but many of the deaf have really excelled.  These deaf women of Bohol can turn out some of the highest quality fishing flies on the planet.

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Founder, Dennis Drake, and Mike have been friends for many years and are from the same hometown of Billings, Montana.   Although Dennis is not a fly fisherman, Mike has patiently educated him on some of the more than 400 patterns that he sells.

Mike had only a one week stay in Bohol but during that time was able to provide some great assistance to this fledgling business.

Mart Lerma (also deaf) leads this very industrious group of workers in producing fishing flies and lures.  This new small company, Sure Catch Fishing Products, is organized under the new nonprofit umbrella organization known as Visayas Deaf Livelihood Projects.  This is a sister nonprofit corporation to IDEA Philippines.  Sure Catch actually only has three employees while the other workers are organizing themselves into cooperatives.

Fly tying is such a demanding and exacting business that it takes many months and even years for a person to become an expert.  Sure Catch Fishing Products is now producing some of the best flies on the market.

But this small enterprise is about more than just business.  Sure Catch Fishing Products has as its goals;

-         to provide work opportunities for the deaf women,

-         to fulfill the needs of its customers,

-         to help the workers fulfill their dreams,

-         and to earn a profit for helping IDEA sustain and expand deaf education in the Philippines.

IDEA Philippines recently put up a small house beside the BDA Livelihood Center so that the young women coming from far to tie flies will have a place to live.  This “modular house” is an experimental building developed by IDEA Philippines made with Styrofoam and concrete board.

The Bohol Deaf Academy canteen is also now providing meals for the fly tiers and trainees at the Livelihood Center plus giving the deaf high school student vocational restaurant trainees real and practical experience.  Both the housing and the canteen are ways to help the workers in the fulfillment of their dreams.  These women just need someone to give them a start and that is exactly what Sure Catch is doing for them.

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Celine, Bohol Deaf Academy’s entrepreneur teacher, recently helped the students come up with a truly home made product.  With absolutely no machinery, the kids turn out a creamy style peanut butter that beats the store bought kind.  Now the students are in the process of learning how to market this new product.  The student can use this new skill to earn extra spending money while in school or go into their own little business back in their home town when they graduate.

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