Hi! We are the Eco-Explorers of 2013 who traveled to Lesoit, Tanzania to work with a Maasai tribe to build…cook stoves. We returned June 26.

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STORY & BLOG OF PENNY W. STAMPS SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN STUDENTS

Little did we know that in January 2013 Professor Joe Trumpey would be giving us one of the toughest challenges we have seen throughout our college careers: designing highly efficient rocket stoves for people halfway across the planet, who speak a completely different language, and walk completely different paths of life than our own.

This entire semester has been dedicated to that very thing: design. But it hasn’t been design in whatever sense you’re thinking. We have been designing communication through a fully comprehensive design guide. We have been prototyping 3 different types of cook stoves. We have been quizzing each other to speak Maasai, and Swahili. We are trying to anticipate every material, every tool, every local resource they have to make this project as successful as possible. And all of this work is just in preparation for when we hit the ground running, and start putting these skills to the test.

All of this work is only part of our goal. We are trying to do the best we can to help these hard working, pastoral, people deeply rooted in their own culture, while at the same time asking them to shift from a 3-stone fire (a cultural heritage of hundreds of years), to new technology that will remove the smoke from their homes, lengthen their lives, and make more time for their girls and women going to school.

So what we ask is to make a small donation. It can be one cent, it can be one dollar, it can be ten. Anything you give will go towards these people living healthier, longer, happier lives. We thank you in advance for any thought, consideration, and donation that you have given towards our project.

Click HERE for information about other people doing the same thing!