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The World Health Organization states that the leading cause of these deaths is Respiratory Disease worsened by the smoke from open pit cooking fires.
Many poor Mayan families have no choice but to cook and heat using open-pit fires in their tiny one-room huts. This is extremely dangerous; causing incredibly poor air quality in the home, and many injuries from falls and spills.
Of the children who do survive, many will be pulled from school at an early age to take care of necessary family chores; chief among these is the collection of firewood for the non fuel-efficient fire pit. The installation of these well-ventilated and environmentally friendly stoves gets the fire off the ground, preventing burns and injuries, as well as removing smoke in the home. It also greatly decreases fuel consumption, which allows for a reduction in deforestation and a huge timesaving for the women and children who collect the firewood.
Drastically reduce respiratory problems by venting smoke out of the home
Drastically reduces the number of burns and injuries suffered (especially in children)
Requires only 3 -4 sticks of wood per day, allowing children to attend
school instead of spending the day gathering the family's wood supply
Dramatically decreases deforestation of the surrounding area
These stoves are installed by our volunteers during their humanitarian holiday. Each stove is made of 11 cinder blocks, 3 pre-formed pieces of concrete, different sized fire bricks, a metal top for cooking and an aluminum vent. They are put together like pieces of Lego and can take up to 3 hours to install in difficult locations.