After nine months of planning, a number of fundraisers, and two seemingly endless flight delays, our eight-person team from Arcadia University arrived in Nicaragua in early March. It was everyone’s first time in the country, but after our adventures, I am sure many of us hope it will not be the last. Our group, appropriately dubbed “The Mud Brick Brigade,” joined forces with the nonprofit SosteNica to organize a public-health service project. Our goal was to build cob ovens from local, sustainably sourced materials for families living in extreme poverty. In Nicaragua, many poor families cook indoors over an open flame with little or no ventilation. The smoke fills their small houses, stains the walls with soot and contributes to the country’s increasing rates of asthma, COPD and black lung disease.

With guidance from the SosteNica staff, our team constructed eight new stoves for local families. It involved a great deal of sand and sweat, and a few heaping shovels of dried manure, but the experience was nothing short of incredible. We were able to meet some wonderful people, see the explosion of an active volcano, actively assist in the reforestation of a riverbed and develop a newfound respect for rice and beans. There were a few hiccups along the journey, but even a fair share of intestinal issues didn’t prevent us from meeting our goals. 

After 10 hot days of hard work, our team completed its public-health mission. Now, the Nicaraguan families we worked with will not only be able to prepare their food in a cleaner and safer manner, but will also use 75 percent less firewood for fuel, improving the health of people and the local environment at once. 

The work of SosteNica and our Mud Brick Brigade team is simple and sustainable, yet we know it will have profound and lasting impacts on the families involved. It was an honor to play a part in this transformation.

It’s also been an honor to work with Weavers Way Community Programs this semester. Little did I know when I set out for Nicaragua that the knowledge gained there would be so immediately applicable to my work with WWCP. By the time you read this article, WWCP will have rebuilt the cob oven at Stenton Family Manor and will be able to use it throughout the growing season for cooking lessons with the kids and families who participate in Hope Kitchen and Garden Club. 

I hope it serves them well for many years to come.