REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MEXICO CITY -- Indigenous women from the Tzotzil ethnic group in southeastern Mexico's Chiapas State are not traditionally consulted on many of the decisions that affect their lives.

"Often, women are not allowed at village council meetings," says Mercedes Santiz, 44, a resident of the Tzotzil village of Bayalemo. "We are not allowed to speak or help to make decisions. Many men simply believe women do not have the right to be heard. Many do not even allow women to leave the house without permission."

But they didn't take it for granted. Although with few resources, indigenous women in central Chiapas have been trying to make a difference to their lives.

Once they started, they are making a difference to their households just as what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted in his message marking the International Day of Rural Women which falls on Oct. 15.

"They are farmers and farm workers, horticulturists and market sellers, business women and community leaders. Rural women are the backbone of sustainable livelihoods and provide food security for their families and communities," Ban said.

Back in 1982, a few of the Bayalemo women hit upon an idea to make some extra money. Mayan textiles are deservedly known for their quality and variety, making them sought after around the world.

With almost every woman in Bayalemo having a loom in her garden, the women decided to band together to sell their wares. Thus was born the J'pas Joloviletik cooperative.

Over the past 30 years, the cooperative has made a real difference in the lives of the 120 women who can have their textiles sold in the tourist town of San Cristobal de las Casas. This also allows some of them a measure of financial independence, giving them a meager salary in a situation where men control the purse string.

Other elements, however, have not shown much progress.

Santiz, who is now the president of the cooperative, told Xinhua that she still faced a lot of criticism from men and women alike.

"People see me going out, often daily. They talk and gossip. They began to criticize me as they felt I was doing something that was forbidden," she said.

One of the most practical difficulties is that most of women have to stay home for most of time to feed the family.

"My mother has an old, dirty stove with only one hob. This means she can only cook one ingredient at a time. She spends four hours cooking for every meal, starting at 5 a.m.," said 25-year-old Margarita Ruiz, who helps organize the cooperative.

Furthermore, the old stoves pose a lot of problems. Poorly designed, they consume a lot of wood, which forces the women to fetch and carry. They also emit a lot of smoke in poorly ventilated houses, causing respiratory problems to the women and their children, as they often cook with babies strapped to their backs.

To the indigenous women here, spare time is the most precious resources, most of which has been deprived by the old stoves.

That's why when global NGO The Hunger Project (THP) came and asked the women of the J'pas Joloviletik cooperative in what areas they needed help, the overwhelming answer was that they wanted new and better stoves to cook on.

THP, which works to end world hunger, focuses on self-sufficiency and empowerment, teaching poor communities how to fend for themselves and helping them have the tools to do so. The NGO has a particular belief that, in poor communities, empowering women goes a long way toward solving the problems of poverty and hunger.

THP Mexico then set out to provide the women with a better solution. The women of Bayalemo were involved in each stage of the process, from determining which features the stoves should have, to choosing one of several designs, and then making modifications during the installation process.

First designed by engineer and Water for Humans director, Rick McKenney, the stoves were rolled out in Bayalemo in August.

Named "Mazateca stoves" after first being built in other communities where THP is engaged in La Mazateca, Oaxaca, they eradicate many of the problems caused by older, improvised stoves.

"The new Mazateca stoves have four hobs, cutting down the time spent cooking by at least half," Ruiz said.

By the middle of October, the first six new stoves were completed in Bayalemo, with plans to build over 18 more to a total of 24.

However, as part of the focus on empowerment and self-reliance, several people from La Mazateca travelled to Bayalemo to teach young girls in the village how to build and maintain the stoves.

Cleotilde Martinez (23), from San Jose Tenango in Oaxaca, was one of those who made the trip. With her sister, she has built nine stoves in La Mazateca.

"I was made a catalyst within my community of Cerro Alto to learn how to build the stoves and pass on that knowledge. I was chosen with two others to come to Bayalemo and teach the young people here to become catalysts themselves," she said. "We teach them all the right measures and dimensions of the tubes, the connections, the openings and the cement."

A team of teenage girls from Bayalemo took on the dedicated building of the stove for Petrona, Ruiz's mother, under the supervision of Cleotilde and her fellow catalysts. When the stove was completed, the smiles of pride and achievement spoke volumes.

Martinez said, the situation of women in La Mazateca is similar to those of the Tzotzil in Bayalemo.

"Men think that the voice of women doesn't matter," she said. "But through the ecological stoves project, as women and as catalysts, we showed them that our voices do matter. Women must always participate."

Since the J'pas Joloviletik cooperative was started in 1982, the women of Bayalemo have had the chance to sell their textiles to a broader audience. However, their new ecological stoves will give perhaps an even more precious gift: time.

When asked what they would do with six more hours a day to themselves, the answers were varied.

As the first to get an experimental ecological stove a year ago, Santiz has been spending more time taking care of her youngest son, just two years old and born with Down syndrome.

Others said they would spend more time weaving for the cooperative, thus generating more income for themselves. As THP says, part of empowerment is allowing women to have such choices to make.

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