Honduran farmer Don Betillo (right) and 44 other farming families working with Sustainable
Harvest International in Central America are now able to harness
the methane gas create naturally from decomposing manure and other
organic materials. Don Betillo is

standing next to his new .
The digester is essentially a long plastic tube into which families
pour water and manure mixed with other organic material. As the
material within the digester decomposes in an anaerobic setting,
methane gas is released. The gas can then be tapped and used for
cooking. Francisca Sosa (below left) uses her methane cook
stove to prepare traditional rice and beans each day. She reports
that she can cook for eight hours a day on the methane produced from
her familys digester. An added bonus is that the effluent from
the biogas digester is also a powerful organic fertilizer.
Families, such as Francisca Sosas, have requested our support in building biogas digesters because of the many hours of labor and the number of trees that are saved by using the cleaner-burning gas stove instead of firewood. The Sosas and many other families are conserving resources while improving their standard of living. A $100 donation to SHI builds a biogas digester like Don Betillos. to give a biogas digester to a family in need of your support!