Detailed description
In twelve years, the 60-member Rotary Club of Saint George, UT (USA) has turned nearly $300,000 in Global Grants, District Grants, and donations from Rotarians and Rotary clubs in Utah & Colorado into 2600 cinderblock stoves for the homes of Mayan villagers in Guatemala. Studies by the WHO have determined smoke inhalation is a root cause of death and poor health in Mayan women and the primary cause of death in their children, ages 1-5, to respiratory and diarrheal diseases as well as injuries and deaths from open fires in their homes. Efficient cook stoves reduce indoor carbon monoxide by 99% and allow children to go to school - rather than gathering firewood all day - as each cinder block stove burns 85% less wood. For a week each year, these Rotarians -working with the non-profit ALDEA (Spanish for “village” and an acronym for Advancing Local Development through Empowerment & Action) -build or donate to the construction of stoves, saving the lives of thousands of mothers & children.