TMI junior, Zach Evers, was one of 105 members of the San Antonio Guatemalan Endeavor (SAGE) Mission team that traveled to San Cristobal de Alta Verapaz, Guatemala on a combined medical/surgical and community development mission trip from Jul 10th-25th.  Zach was part of the 5-member advance team that prepared the destination hospital for the team’s arrival.  He also worked on a community development team that journeyed into the local communities and poured concrete to cover dirt floors, installed efficient wood-burning stoves and water filtration systems in 8 homes.

Impoverished indigenous Guatemalan families cook with open fire pits in their one-room homes, putting members at risk for smoke and fire-related injuries. Onil stoves significantly improve living conditions by venting the smoke out of the homes and eliminating risk for burns, plus reducing firewood consumption by 70%.  His team also installed an institutional stove and water filtration system in a local school, improving the learning conditions for many school children and teachers.