Cookstoves

How will the intervention help?

Traditional cook stove

• No chimney results in significant smoke exposure – this exacerbates existing asthma disease burden and may lead to chronic lung disease
• Inefficient – traditional cook stoves require much more wood than does an improved cook stove. This means women and children must expend large amounts of calories and time collecting firewood.
• Increased burn risk – given the increased exposure to the fire, children are more likely to get burned.

Improved cook stove

• Chimney reduces smoke exposure
• By controlling air flow, significantly less firewood is needed
• Reduced burn risk because less exposure to the fire

Required Materials

• Wood form
• Locally harvested and prepared mud
• Plancha – flat metal plate cooking surface, approximately 2 ft x 3 ft.
• Chimney and rain cover
• Metal can as form for chimney attachment

Building Process

• Create a platform out of adobe and mud
• Install form
• Form doorway for wood out of 3 adobe bricks
• Fill form with mud
• Install chimney and plancha
• Allow to cure for at least 48 hours

Total Monetary Cost

• $35 - $40 per stove, depending on amount of chimney pipe required
• Honduran provides all local materials, unskilled labor and 20% of monetary cost

How Can You Help?

• Donate funds to purchase the required materials.

$35 US will improve the health of the cook stove family in a long term manner.