2025–2027 Goals & Objectives.
International Esperanza Project's strategic plan for healthier homes in Guatemala — expanding access to smoke-free stoves and clean-water filters while strengthening efficiency, sustainability, and long-term impact.
Strengthening communities from the inside out.
International Esperanza Project strengthens communities in Latin America from the inside out — partnering to create impact through lasting improvements to homes, healthcare, and education, so everyone can realize the future they hope for.
Impacting Homes ensures families have healthier living environments as a foundation for a better quality of life.
Impacting Homes
Ensuring families have healthier living environments as a foundation for a better quality of life.
Impacting Health
Providing vital healthcare services and supporting healthy living.
Impacting Education
Building quality learning environments and engaging people in learning.
Safe, clean water — sustained year after year.
Access to clean water is essential for health and wellbeing. Our water filter program provides families with safe drinking water by reducing exposure to waterborne illnesses and improving daily health outcomes. To sustain these benefits, we prioritize not only initial distribution but also ongoing maintenance and replacement — protecting prior investments and helping families maintain healthier conditions year after year.
Water Filter Program: How It Works
Access to clean drinking water is essential for good health, yet many communities still rely on contaminated sources, leading to preventable illnesses and even death. Waterborne diseases — especially those affecting the stomach — are a major public health concern, disproportionately impacting children and vulnerable populations.
By providing sustainable filtration solutions like Ecofiltro, we empower families with safe, reliable drinking water, reducing the risk of disease, improving quality of life, and fostering healthier communities. Clean water is not just a basic necessity — it's a foundation for a better future.
To tackle this issue, IEP installed 935 water filters in 2025. Sourced from local manufacturer Ecofiltro, these filters are paired with education and follow-up programs to ensure proper use and long-term impact.
Water Filter Program: The Role of IEP Support
IEP's Water Filter Program is a key component of our Impacting Homes pillar. Households receive high-quality water filters along with education on proper use and maintenance, empowering families to take ownership of their health.
This support reduces waterborne illness, eases the daily burden on caregivers, and allows children to thrive in safer home environments. By investing in both resources and education, IEP creates lasting change that strengthens families and builds healthier communities for generations to come.
100% drinkable water for up to two years, maintenance-free and simple to use.
Removes bacteria with colloidal silver and eliminates odors with activated charcoal.
Delivers 22 liters of clean drinking water daily.
Reliable access that improves health and overall well-being.
Water Filter Replacement Program
How It Works
The Replacement Program ensures families continue to receive safe water by replacing filters at the end of their effective lifespan — every 24 months. IEP identifies households previously served, assesses filter lifespan, and coordinates scheduled replacements to maintain consistent water quality, preserving the integrity of the original intervention and ensuring continuity of care.
The Role of IEP Support
IEP's support is essential to sustaining long-term access to clean water for families who may not have the means to replace filters on their own. By coordinating replacements and integrating them into program planning, IEP safeguards long-term health outcomes — particularly for children and vulnerable populations — while maximizing the impact of prior investments. This reflects a strategic shift from one-time solutions to ongoing health protection.
Cleaner air, safer homes — replacing the open fire.
Smoke-free stoves play a critical role in improving household health and environmental sustainability. By replacing open-fire cooking with clean, efficient stoves, families experience reduced indoor air pollution, lower respiratory health risks, and improved safety within the home. Our program delivers durable, high-quality solutions that create healthier living environments and lasting benefits.
Smoke-Free Stoves Program: How It Works
Many families in rural Guatemala still cook and heat their homes over open fires, alternating between firewood and propane. This exposes them to serious health and safety risks — chronic respiratory and eye illness from indoor smoke, and severe burns from open flames. Women also spend many hours each week collecting firewood, and inefficient burning contributes to environmental degradation.
IEP installs high-efficiency, smoke-free rocket stoves designed for low-resource, off-grid environments. A vertical combustion chamber burns fuel at high temperatures while an insulated chimney creates strong airflow, so wood burns more completely — far less smoke, more usable heat. Three cooking zones (high, medium, low) let families prepare multiple dishes at once.
The stove eliminates visible smoke inside the home, dramatically improving indoor air quality. It needs only three components cleaned — fire chamber, stovetop, and chimney — and interchangeable parts make repairs simple and cost-effective. Locally manufactured in Guatemala and aligned with the Clean Cooking Alliance, it has a life expectancy of up to 10 years.
Smoke-Free Stoves Program: The Role of IEP Support
IEP's support is comprehensive and relationship-driven, extending well beyond installation. IEP staff — many of whom live in the communities served — work with municipal governments and local programs to identify families most in need. Each relationship begins with a pre-installation socio-economic survey, establishing a baseline to measure progress.
Recognizing that new technology requires education and trust, IEP provides hands-on training before and after installation. A follow-up visit about one month after installation ensures the stove functions correctly, addresses technical issues, and reinforces correct daily use — critical to consistent adoption and health benefits.
IEP conducts follow-up visits throughout the first year to assess stove condition, provide guidance, and update socio-economic data. This long-term engagement transforms a single home improvement into a lasting health intervention that improves safety, reduces environmental impact, and strengthens family well-being for years to come.
To address this challenge, IEP installed 935 smoke-free stoves in 2025. Stoves are purchased from local vendor Estufa Doña Dora and paired with a comprehensive pre- and post-installation program in each community.
FACTS of the “Doña Dora” Stove
Three cooking zones — high, medium, and low — for cooking multiple dishes at once.
Up to 10-year life expectancy; locally manufactured in Guatemala.
Low maintenance — only three parts to clean, with interchangeable components.
Eliminates visible indoor smoke; aligned with the Clean Cooking Alliance.
Assembly
Level legs
Set combustion chamber
Stove base
Panels & log support
Stove top
Tiles
Chimney
Light it up!
Where we worked — 935 homes, 31 communities.
Smoke-free stoves and water filters installed across Guatemala in 2025.
| Community | Stoves & Filters |
|---|---|
| Bethania | 20 |
| Chichoy Bajo | 16 |
| Chipiacul | 55 |
| Chipop | 37 |
| Chuatzunuj | 17 |
| Chuinimachicaj | 32 |
| Chuiquel | 24 |
| Guatemala | 2 |
| La Canoa | 67 |
| La Cruz | 50 |
| Los Brillantes | 49 |
| Los Cerritos | 17 |
| Los Jometes | 1 |
| Panabajal | 44 |
| Panimaquim | 12 |
| Patzicia | 25 |
| Patzún | 8 |
| Paxorotot | 22 |
| San Antonio Palopó | 52 |
| San Jose Chirijuyu | 48 |
| Santa Apolonia | 38 |
| Santa Catarina Palopó | 79 |
| Santa Cruz Balanya | 24 |
| Saquitacaj | 80 |
| Tecpan | 8 |
| Tzancorral | 19 |
| Xayá | 23 |
| Xeatzan Alto | 12 |
| Xequechelaj | 25 |
| Xiquinabaj | 24 |
| Yepocapa | 5 |
| Total | 935 |
Executive Summary
This strategic plan outlines our continued commitment to improving lives through smoke-free stoves and water filters in Guatemala from 2025 to 2027. In 2025, 935 stoves and water filters were installed. While maintaining a consistent number of installations each year, our focus shifts toward enhancing program efficiency, reducing costs, and maximizing long-term impact. By strengthening local partnerships, refining logistics, and improving follow-up systems, we aim to deliver more sustainable results — ensuring each stove installed creates healthier homes, cleaner air, and stronger communities.
Strategic Objectives
Sustain Stove Distribution
Maintain a steady annual installation rate of approximately 900 stoves, reaching hundreds of families each year.
Increase Program Efficiency
Reduce the average cost per stove through improved logistics, bulk purchasing, and local workforce development.
Maximize Health & Environmental Impact
Continue reducing indoor air pollution, respiratory illness, and deforestation by replacing open-fire cooking with clean, efficient stoves.
Strengthen Local Capacity
Expand training for community technicians to ensure proper installation, use, and maintenance.
Projected impact & implementation roadmap.
| Objective | KPI | Target by 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver sustainable, long-term results by ensuring each stove installed creates healthier homes, and revise the logistics model for installation and maintenance to improve efficiency and reduce expenses. | Number of stoves | 900 |
Projected Impact
| Program | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stoves & Water Filters | 935 | 900 | 900 |
| Water Filter Replacement Program | 0 | 250 | 500 |
Implementation Roadmap
- Install 935 stoves and water filters across 31 communities through strengthened logistics and community partnerships.
- Begin process analysis to identify cost-saving opportunities in procurement and distribution.
- Develop a process for water filter replacement after the two-year lifespan.
- Sustain 900 annual installations of water filters and smoke-free stoves.
- Continue identifying cost-saving opportunities in procurement and distribution.
- Pilot a revised logistics model for installation and maintenance to reduce expenses.
- Implement the water filter replacement program.
- Sustain 900 annual installations while improving operational efficiency.
- Implement findings from the cost-optimization study to reduce overall program cost per unit going forward.
Safe, healthy, and sustainable home environments.
Empowering Guatemalan communities through safe, healthy, and sustainable home environments. We are committed to expanding access to smoke-free stoves and clean-water solutions that reduce health risks and improve daily living conditions — resulting in safer households and long-term positive impact.
Expanding access while improving cost-effectiveness.
The following projections outline expected Impacting Homes program expenses and cost efficiency from 2025 to 2027, reflecting our commitment to expanding access while improving cost-effectiveness across all programs.
Program Expenses & Cost per Stove and Water Filter (2025–2027)
| Program | Year | Units | Expenses | $ / Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stoves & Water Filter Program | 2025 | 935 | $951,595 | $1,018 |
| Stoves & Water Filter Program | 2026 | 900 | $1,024,865 | $1,139 |
| Stoves & Water Filter Program | 2027 | 900 | $1,055,611 | $1,173 |
*Projected expenses for 2025, based on Jan–Sep 2025 actuals.
Cost Efficiency
Total Impacting Homes program expenses were $951,595 in 2025 (filed Form 990) and are projected to reach $1,055,611 by 2027. These increases reflect inflationary pressures, material and transportation costs, and continued investment in program quality, while maintaining a consistent annual installation target of approximately 900 smoke-free stoves and water filters. Fixed operational costs remain largely stable while variable costs adjust modestly due to inflation. As installation volumes hold steady, program growth increasingly depends on operational efficiency and strategic design rather than scale alone.
Analysis
While the average cost per stove and water filter increases slightly over time, this aligns with inflation and does not indicate reduced efficiency. To further control cost growth and expand impact, IEP plans to incorporate water filter replacement into the Impacting Homes program. Filter replacement is a significantly lower-cost intervention than new installation and extends health benefits to families already served.
By integrating this cost-efficient intervention, IEP will increase the total number of families impacted each year without a proportional rise in overall expenses. This strengthens long-term health outcomes, preserves prior investments, and supports sustainable growth without abrupt cost escalation — positioning the Impacting Homes program as financially responsible, scalable, and impact-driven.
