Señora Rebecca Ramírez López

Rebecca’s kiln was similar to that of Maria Irene. It was built up to close in and then a chimney was built alongside.

This was the kiln before it recieved work. The roof was made from clay tiles and held up by branches cut from a near by tree.

Here is the kiln after the work it recieved. In the picture on the left, you can see how the kiln was enclosed on top and the chimney rising through the lamina. The right picture shows the kiln in its entirety and the permenant roof.

Señor Carlos Roberto Ramírez Cortes

Carlos was one of the artisans who stepped into one of the vacant slots. He bought an additional 400 bricks to build a square kiln. Over the course of five days, Medardo, Carlos and his brother rapidly constructed the kiln.

This kiln will serve to alleviate the burden placed on a singular, old kiln that is being used by approximately 11 artisans.

The photo on the left is the full kiln. In the center photo you can see the entrance to the wood burning chamber.

Señora Vilma Ramos García

Vilma’s kiln received only a minimal amount of work since it was already a square kiln. The work consisted of redoing the top of the kiln, extending the chimney and replacing the roof.

You can see in the left picture how the chimney falls short of the roof - this actually blockaded the smoke into the home.

In the center pic is Merdardo redoing the top of the kiln.

The right hand picture is the finished product.

Señora Gertrudis Pérez Ramírez

Gertrudis was one of the artisans that stood in place of another who dropped out of the program. Thus, in her case, instead of making improvements to the kiln, a completely new one was built. She took the materials that would’ve gone to another, bought the additional bricks needed and paid for the construction.

This kiln comes as a great help to her since she lives close to, but outside of the main town center - meaning she had to carry all her work into town in order to fire it.

This kiln is a slight change on the square design. Instead of the wood entering in the front of the kiln, it enters on the side. This design allows a few small stairs to be built to the entrance of the kiln so that the artisan can easily place and retrieve her pieces.

This kiln also gives an excellent shot of the chimney exiting the roof.

Good News

Before leaving El Salvador for a two week vacation in the good 'ol US of A, I received word that Maria Irene fired more comales in her kiln and they all came out beautifully.

Therefore, work has resumed on all kilns and I will update you as soon as I am back in my little community - approximatly the 3rd or 4th of January.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!

Senora Andrea Ramos García

The second kiln to receive work was that of Senora Andrea Ramos García. Her kiln was constructed differently then that of Maria Irene – it is a combination of square and round kilns. The picture below left shows the oven before work while it was in use. Unlike normal square kilns, the wood burns on the ground below – normally this is elevated by iron bars. It is also an unusually small kiln.

Learning from Maria Irene’s kiln, this kiln was given a few more days to dry and then was fired without pieces inside to dispel any remaining moisture. Also, when she was done firing the pieces, the entry to the wood chamber was closed to prevent the chimney from acting in reverse and drawing cold air down.

Thankfully, her kiln worked beautifully and she is thrilled with the results.

We´re still awaiting Maria Irene´s second firing before we proceed further. Andrea´s kiln was done before we fired in Maria´s.

Señora Maria Irene Pérez

The first completed kiln is one belonging to Señora Maria Irene Pérez.

This kiln is used by three artisans to fire their pieces and is a perfect example of its kind. You can see in the photo to the right that the kiln is round, but open on top. When firing the pieces, the kiln was covered by pieces of lamina - which allowed most of the heat to escape and destroy both the lamina put on top and the lamina that acted as a roof.

This is what the kiln now looks like. As you can see, it’s been built up, closed in and a chimney now extends beyond the roof.

Being the first one finished, it was also the first one tried. Unfortunately, not all went according to plan. 40 of the 120 comales (large, clay plates) came out cracked. It is for that reason that we have temporarily stopped this sort of construction. We’re waiting for this artisan to fire again and see if it was a flook the first time.

Possible reasons for the breakage include:

• If the oven was heated to quickly


• If the oven cooled too quickly.


• If the oven wasn’t given sufficient time to dry.

It could be a combination of the three - it’s a new design and thus needs to be worked out. I’ll keep you updated as to how it goes. And don´t worry about the artisan´s loss - I reimbursed her for the lost comales.

This, surprisingly, doesn’t affect the entire project. 4 out of the 9 artisans have chosen to add some material themselves and construct their ovens from scratch - deeming the old ones to worn and need of repair. Of these artisans, some have chosen a different design - a square kiln that has proven to save wood and fire at a higher temperature