Project Addresses Lung Cancer in Women
The Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club sponsored an International Project that will have a lasting impact on the health of the woman and children of Guatemala. The project was to build twelve “ECO-STOVES” in the jungle village of Cuatro Cayos. The women of the village cook over open fires inside of their homes. They inhale creosote and smoke particles resulting in a 17% lung cancer mortality rate.
“ECO-STOVES” feature an ingeniously simple design created from loose bricks, a metal plate and stovepipe. The stoves’ chamber system creates outstanding heat on the cooking surface, and vents the deadly smoke outside of the home. Dubbed Eco-stoves because of the 70% less wood requirements, these stoves are inexpensive and very efficient. At a price of only $65 per stove, Eco-stoves are a low cost and effective health-care project.
“Another feature of these stoves is the reduced ambient temperature of the entire home. With outside temperatures commonly passing one hundred degrees, the old fire pits generated indoor temperatures that were intolerable”, stated project leader and W-G Rotarian Bill Chadwick.
The stoves were built in conjunction with the Los Amates Rotary Club of Guatemala. Ten Rotarians spent three days teaching the villagers how to build, maintain and operate these stoves. According to WG Rotarian Wayne Lopez, “The woman loved them! The old fire pits were removed causing some concern, but once the new stoves were fired up, the cooks were very happy!”