Volunteers install stoves, distribute hand-made quilts

Helping others was something Sedro-Woolley community members were working toward during a trip to Guatemala last month.

A group of 10 people from the Sedro-Woolley Rotary club and several family members traveled to the remote village of San Jose Maxbal where they installed 64 wood stoves in villagers’ homes and distributed locally made quilts.

It was the second time club members conducted the project in the country.

Participants included Sedro-Woolley Rotary members Geoff McCann, Neal Rothenbuhler, Dr. Teak Martin, Travis Huisman, Don Ostrom and Brock Stiles. Other participants included Marsha Rothenbuhler, Wayne Huisman, Reba Sines and Joan Cox.

Stiles, president of Sedro-Woolley Rotary, said it was his first time traveling to the country and that he was impressed with how the villagers survived off a minimal amount of living materials.

“What was striking was that they seemed content, self-sufficient and hard-working,” he said.

Prior to receiving the new stoves, villagers used open campfires in their homes, Travis Huisman said. As the club’s director of international projects committee, it was also his first time traveling to Guatemala.

The new stoves help pipe smoke out of villagers’ homes and burns wood more efficiently, he said.

Aside from installing stoves, the village guests distributed quilts to the nine widows in the village. The widows were in their late 20s and early 30s, Stiles said.

The quilts were handmade by a group of six women who attend Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Sedro-Woolley. They make quilts for other service projects in Skagit County.

Stiles said he heard about the Rotary Club of Everett distributing quilts to villagers during one of its service trips to Guatemala and thought it would be a good idea for Sedro-Woolley Rotary.

“I just think it’s another means of showing people we care,” he said. “A quilt is something people put a lot of time into. It’s a universal sign of caring and friendship.”

Together the quilting group made 10 quilts, each one taking about 20 hours to complete, said Becky Bunke, a quilt maker from the church. She said it made her feel good to know she could use her gift of quilting for a good cause.

“It was a great project and I think Sedro-Woolley should be proud of it,” she said. “Rotary did a good job.”

The group’s effort to complete the quilts was really rewarding, agreed Teri Bever, another woman who helped make the quilts. The group was able to fill a need that villagers in San Juan Maxbal had, she said.

The quilts were distributed to the women during a closing ceremony. Handing out the quilts was “a bit of a tear jerker” as the village displayed a surprising response, Huisman said.

Each woman was quick to hug the person who gave them the gift, he said.

“A quilt is obviously a very special gift to give someone,” Huisman said. “You could see the appreciation on their faces. It was pretty neat.”

It was special to see the widows accept a gift that women in Sedro-Woolley made, Stiles said. He said he thinks local participants were the ones who received more from the visit than the villagers. To see that the villagers do have difficult lives and aren’t complaining about it, and truly appreciate the small things people do for them, it’s obvious “you really do get more when you give than the other way around,” he said.

Huisman said the trip has provided him with memories he will remember for the rest of his life.

The original idea for sending Rotarians to Guatemala was to provide members the opportunity to have the experience and at the same time help them become better community members, Huisman said.

“I think we’ve been very successful at that,” he said.