Nancy Hughes never planned to change the world. At age 60, she was a housewife from Oregon who had spent her life taking care of her family. But one trip to Guatemala in 2003 changed everything.
While volunteering with a medical team, Nancy saw women cooking over open fires inside their homes. The thick smoke filled their tiny kitchens, making it hard to breathe. Children coughed nearby as their mothers cooked, breathing in dangerous fumes hour after hour, day after day. The medical team treated children and adults who had serious burns from those same fires.
Nancy couldn't shake what she had seen. Back home in Oregon, she learned that smoke from cooking fires kills millions of people each year - mostly women and children. Instead of thinking "someone should do something," Nancy thought "I can do something."
She had no engineering degree. No business experience. No Spanish language skills. But Nancy had something more important: determination and a clear vision of what needed to change.
Working with her local Rotary club and a talented rocket combustion designer, they developed a simple wood-burning "rocket" stove that used a lot less fuel and burned so cleanly no smoke was generated. She dubbed it the "Ecocina." The design wasn't complicated - it just needed to work and be affordable for families living on a few dollars a day.
Her project, which eventually grew into StoveTeam International, started small. One stove at a time. One family at a time. But word spread quickly. Other Rotary clubs wanted to help. Soon, Nancy was helping start local stove factories to build and install stoves across Central America.
Today, more than 83,000 Ecocinas are used daily across Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Each stove saves a family from breathing dangerous smoke. Each stove helps protect nearby forests by using less wood. Each stove prevents burns to young children. Each stove gives children a better chance to grow up healthy.
The numbers are impressive - over 500,000 people helped. But the real story is about one woman who refused to accept that "housewife" meant she couldn't change the world.
Nancy's story teaches us something powerful: You don't need special credentials to make a difference. You don't need to be young. You don't need to be an expert. You just need to care deeply and be willing to take that first step. And Rotary makes it easy.
What started with one woman's concern has grown into a movement, spreading from village to village, country to country. Nancy Hughes showed us that when we open our hearts to others' struggles, amazing things can happen.
Now in her '80s, she often tells people: "If I could do this at 60, imagine what you can do today." Nancy's story isn't just about cookstoves - it's about having the courage to act when you see something wrong in the world, no matter who you are or when you start.
That's the power of one person thinking big through Rotary. That's how change happens. That's how hope spreads. One stove, one family, one village at a time.
I was privedged to take my daughter on an early stoveteam trip to Guatemala. It was a life changing experience. I’m forever grateful for my good friend Nancy!
Ray, you come from a family who has compassion and courage in their DNA. Your sister, Nancy was one woman with an idea that was life changing and instead of letting it go because it was too difficult to make it happen, she prevailed, used the resources of the Rotary and the "Ecocina" was born. Bravo!!!
What an inspiration!
Thanks for sharing. We have members in the area, at this time, training water purification and making of menstrual kits.