Local Rotarian Supplies Central America with Safer Stoves

The Eugene Airport Rotary club is not the only Rotary group in the Eugene area. Several other clubs exist and a member of one, the Eugene Southtowne Club, was featured on the main Rotary International news site last Thursday in a story about her efforts to supply Central Americans with safer, more fuel-efficient cooking stoves.

Nancy Hughes (pictured at left) visited Guatemala six years ago while volunteering for a U.S. medical team. While in Guatemala, she met an 18-year-old young woman who had lost the use of her hands after falling into a cooking fire at the age of two. Hughes’ team was able to restore function to her hands, but Hughes realized that was just one small part of the solution to a much larger problem: Typical practice of cooking over open fire indoors led to increased risk of similar injuries and of smoke inhalation for children.

Hughes’ efforts allowed more than 2,300 safer stoves to be brought to Guatemala between 2004 and 2007. Eventually, through the efforts of fellow Southtowne Rotarians, Hughes was able to bring the safer and more fuel-efficient “Ecocina” stove to Guatemala.

Rather than just providing stoves, the Southtowne team has moved to locating Ecocina stove factories in Guatemala. That way, locals benefit from the new stoves and the employment opportunities that a new factory brings to an area. Through the support of StoveTeam International, a group started by Southtowne Rotarians to sponsor the factories, the Peace Corps and Rotary clubs in Guatemal and El Salvador, three Ecocina factories began producing stoves earlier this year. Since its founding in 2008, StoveTeam international has received over $370,000 from forty different Rotary clubs, the Rotary Foundation and other matching grants.

To learn more about the project and how you can support, read the full article on Nancy Hughes and StoveTeam International on the Rotary International website or visit stoveteam.org.