smokeless stove building -habitat for humanity
Smoke. Smoke in schools. Smoke in houses.
Here in the 1st world, we don’t even need to think about smoke inhalation unless we are a smoker, or are building a summer campfire to roast marshmallows!
In Guatemala, the #1 killer for children under age 5 is pneumonia. The leading cause of death overall in Guatemala is pulmonary disease. Directly related to smoke inhalation from open fire cooking.
In Guatemala, a family may spend up to 50% of their income on purchasing firewood, or spend 5-6 hours PER DAY to walk into the mountains far enough to be able to collect the wood.
And then the fires are built within their homes, with no ventilation for the smoke.
See the fire pit below in the first picture - that is a “before” shot of one of the stoves we helped to replace. And the child standing right next to the open fire pit.
This impacts every aspect of their life
financial
health
nutrition
family life.
Habitat for Humanity has a template for a smokeless stoves. These stoves cut the use of firewood by 50% and also have a chimney to allow the smoke to escape the home. These stoves are truly life saving!!
We built 3 stoves with the help of the families that are receiving the stoves, and the Habitat for Humanity team including professional Guatemalan masons. Each family receiving the stove, had to show their commitment to the stove by making adobe bricks 2 weeks before we came. All 3 families we helped to provide stoves were single mothers. In addition to these 3 families, another 6 families watched the building of the stoves so they could go back and replicate this stove with the materials provided by Habitat.
Can you imagine - this simple stove can increase the income of the family by 50% or cut their time collecting wood by 50% - allowing them to work more to support their families more consistently.
Can you imagine living a life with less pulmonary disease, less smoke inhalation, less illness!
Learning, teaching, and building communities - one step (or stove) at a time.
