
Doña Lourdes has lived in the community of La Grecia since she was a child. A few months ago, she and several other women from La Grecia were invited to attend what we call a vision day. They all responded with a yes to this invitation, traveling from their community to anxiously see the new Clean Air Kitchen model that the Amigos for Christ Community Advocates had told them so much about.

How? Lourdes stepped up and offered her home to be used as a new model for other women. Several neighboring women who wanted to receive the benefit of the kitchen could be trained on how to use it in Lourdes’ kitchen. Lourdes opened the door of her home so that everyone could have the opportunity that she had on her vision day.



Lourdes“I wanted the women of my community to learn the importance of changing habits just like I did. Habits that are now part of my home and my life. That is why I offered my house. So that juntas we could learn how to use our kitchens.”
Transformed people transform people. Lourdes tells us that the vision day was an incredible experience for her. She was able to experience directly from another woman what it meant to change home habits, to be able to be free of the diseases caused by smoke inhalation. Not only did Lourdes install and teach with her kitchen, but she also installed a sink and a ceramic table that allows her to prepare food in a sanitary way. She continues enforcing the changes that have improved her and her family’s health.


a smiling Lourdes"Sometimes we need inspiration, what we call initiative. Amigos took us to another community not only to witness the changes within a family, but also to directly experience the blessing that God brings us through people like them. Seeing that family inspired me to want to be like them. That day, I signed on and said,
Now, what do the women of the community of La Grecia all have in common? All of them are using their Clean Air Kitchens more frequently to benefit their personal health and their family health.
The joy that exists in the home of Lourdes and the women in the community of La Grecia is something that cannot be described. It must be experienced. Today, they cook with the secure knowledge that they are preventing diseases, saving money, conserving time, and caring for their families. All in the best possible way – through a smoke-free kitchen in their homes!