Public Health students at Arcadia University set out to make a difference in Managua, Nicaragua by building mud stoves for underprivileged families from March 5 to 12.

Student organizer Megan Dorris ’18MPH and classmates Christine Taylor ’12, ’18DPT, MPH, Jonathan Lopez ’18MPH, Jose Arteaga ’18MPH, Cassie Haynes ’18MPH, Yeon Kim ’18MPH, Natalia Susul ’18, and Natasha Ireifej ’18 traveled to Nicaragua for spring break to assist SosteNica, and international organization that works with rural families in Nicaragua to improve health and financial stability. While in Managua, the students built mud stoves for eight families and helped with environmental projects.

These stoves are vital to improving family health in Nicaragua, where many underprivileged families cook with indoor open fires. According to the World Health Organization, this method of cooking contributes to the premature deaths of 4.3 million people every year by contributing to childhood asthma, heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.