Quick now, what form of air pollution kills more people than any other? Smog from car exhaust? Nope.Emissions from coal-fired power plants? Wrong again. The answer is indoor cooking fires. This sad fact was brought to world attention during the Earth Summit in Johannesburg this last August. Was any commitment made by the rich countries of the world to do anything about this factor in global warming that causes more suffering than all the other forms of air pollution put together? Tragically no.

This spring working as a team, the  Guatemala Stove Project and Masons on a Mission will be building their thousandth cookstove in the highlands of Guatemala. From the beginning of these projects in 1999 the MHA has played a key role in recruiting members as volunteers to travel down to Central America to build these stoves.

While local Maya masons have built most of the thousand stoves, North American volunteers have done all of the fund-raising that has made these stoves possible. If you want to take this opportunity to find out how you could directly become involved in this life saving venture by donating a stove or using your trowel for some unpaid work then visit www.guatemalastoveproject.org or Masons on a Mission and follow the links to get in touch with either or both of these organizations that are doing something to alleviate  the misery of living in smoke filled shacks. 

Tom Clarke