We are BLUElab Sa’ Nima’ Collaborative, a student-led team from the University of Michigan working alongside CasaSito, a Guatemalan NGO, to partner with families in San Cristóbal Verapaz to improve daily life through thoughtful, community-driven engineering. For many families, cooking over open fires fills homes with harmful smoke, so together, we design and build ventilated wood-burning stoves using locally sourced materials that reduce smoke exposure, protect respiratory health, and lower firewood use.
Over the past 3 years, our team has constructed 12 stoves, built 8 hand-powered washing machines, and led 6 engineering workshops in local schools, all shaped by needs identified directly with the community.
This year, we are raising funds to prototype even more efficient stoves and develop sustainable water collection and storage systems, while fully funding student travel so that every member can participate regardless of financial background. Your support helps turn engineering education into real-world impact by improving health, strengthening environmental and economic resilience, and empowering students and communities to build lasting change together.
Please join us in our efforts to make the world a better place and spread the word about our cause! Thank you for your time, and GO BLUE!
About our Organization
Sa’ Nima’ Collaborative has partnered with CasaSito for the past 10 years. Our team’s mission is to use engineering solutions to improve the lives of CasaSito scholars and their families. Over the past few years, our team has prototyped hand-powered washing machines and ventilated wood-burning stoves to save the families time washing clothes and to alleviate health problems caused by inhaling smoke. Members of our team traveled to San Cristóbal in May 2023 and again in May 2024 to implement these washing machines and stoves in the homes of families in the community. Our team also hosted two hands-on engineering workshops with scholars in San Cristóbal and Antigua to expose them to the engineering design process as well as to possible careers in engineering. In May 2025, our team traveled to San Cristóbal to build more stoves and conduct a needs assessment for a new rainwater collection project. In the 2025-26 year, our team will continue working on this rainwater collection project to ensure that families have reliable access to water.
