Sa' Nima' Collaborative
Project Leaders:
Meredith Gallagher ([email protected])
Jenna Kutscher ([email protected])
BLUElab Board (BLUEboard) Representative:
Lauren Montigue ([email protected])
Stoves Subteam Lead:
Anna Tay ([email protected])
Water Subteam Lead:
Claire Flaspohler ([email protected])
Project Location: San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala
Current Focus: We are a student-led project team under the University of Michigan's BLUElab organization. Along with our educational NGO partner, CasaSito, we focus on identifying and executing sustainable development solutions in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala. In the 2024-2025 academic year, we are working on two projects involving CasaSito scholarship recipients and their families.
The first is focused on prototyping more efficient stoves that reduce smoke output and require less firewood. Our goal is to decrease the portion of family income going towards buying wood, as well as decreasing the risk for smoke-related illnesses for families that would otherwise cook over open fires.
The second project, focused on water collection and filtration, was initiated this year. This team is currently in the research phase of the project, looking into factors that will impact our design. We plan to gather more data regarding the needs of the families through interviews with affected families in Guatemala this summer and use this information to fully develop a sustainable water collection and filtration system for the families.
Mission: Our mission is to address the needs of families in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala through engineering projects that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable while striving to equip leaders to solve challenges using the principles of socially engaged design.
Vision: We partner with families in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala who spend the majority of their monthly income on basic items such as electricity, firewood, and food. Our team aims to design engineering projects that will reduce the percentage that the families are spending on these items either by reducing the use of basic items or by finding a way to increase family income overall. We also work to reduce the health impacts of smoke inhalation during cooking and aim to provide better access to clean water.
Team History: Our founders, a few forward-thinking medical students at the University of Michigan, were disenchanted with traditional, health-focused "service trips" and wanted to do more. The creation of what is now called Sa' Nima' Collaborative, began in 2004 with the idea that international outreach should be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. After partnering with UofM engineering students, this idea would go on to be defined as "socially-engaged design".
In more recent years, our student-led group partnered with the NGO, CasaSito, to work with the community of Samox San Lucas, Guatemala to develop a bio-sand water filter for their schoolyard. Sa' Nima' members also collaborated with the school to teach English lessons and planned after school activities to get kids excited about science and math.
In 2014 Sa' Nima' joined as an official project team of the University of Michigan College of Engineering's BLUELab. That year Sa' Nima' began to pursue a solar lantern project in Samox, Guatemala. The team worked for two years to design and implement these lanterns, but finances and communication led the team to reevaluate and move to the community of Primavera del Ixcán, Guatemala which shares many of Sa' Nima's values. There, Sa' Nima' worked on clean water storage solutions.
Today, Sa' Nima' works with CasaSito-sponsored students based in San Cristobal Verapaz, Guatemala to implement sustainable solutions to their most pressing needs using the fundamental principles of socially-engaged design. In 2019 a needs assessment was performed that has shaped the projects to be ventilated stoves and mechanical washing machines. These engineering solutions were given to the families of Casasito Scholars in the summers of 2023 and 2024. In summer of 2025 a new needs assessment will be completed to ensure our team remains committed to the needs of the community we are serving.
Partner Organization: CasaSito
Sa'Nima is open to WINTER RECRUITMENT! Email the contact email address below or reach out to a project lead for more information.
Contact:
[email protected]
For updates on Sa' Nima', follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and our Website!
Meredith Gallagher ([email protected])
Jenna Kutscher ([email protected])
BLUElab Board (BLUEboard) Representative:
Lauren Montigue ([email protected])
Stoves Subteam Lead:
Anna Tay ([email protected])
Water Subteam Lead:
Claire Flaspohler ([email protected])
Project Location: San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala
Current Focus: We are a student-led project team under the University of Michigan's BLUElab organization. Along with our educational NGO partner, CasaSito, we focus on identifying and executing sustainable development solutions in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala. In the 2024-2025 academic year, we are working on two projects involving CasaSito scholarship recipients and their families.
The first is focused on prototyping more efficient stoves that reduce smoke output and require less firewood. Our goal is to decrease the portion of family income going towards buying wood, as well as decreasing the risk for smoke-related illnesses for families that would otherwise cook over open fires.
The second project, focused on water collection and filtration, was initiated this year. This team is currently in the research phase of the project, looking into factors that will impact our design. We plan to gather more data regarding the needs of the families through interviews with affected families in Guatemala this summer and use this information to fully develop a sustainable water collection and filtration system for the families.
Mission: Our mission is to address the needs of families in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala through engineering projects that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable while striving to equip leaders to solve challenges using the principles of socially engaged design.
Vision: We partner with families in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala who spend the majority of their monthly income on basic items such as electricity, firewood, and food. Our team aims to design engineering projects that will reduce the percentage that the families are spending on these items either by reducing the use of basic items or by finding a way to increase family income overall. We also work to reduce the health impacts of smoke inhalation during cooking and aim to provide better access to clean water.
Team History: Our founders, a few forward-thinking medical students at the University of Michigan, were disenchanted with traditional, health-focused "service trips" and wanted to do more. The creation of what is now called Sa' Nima' Collaborative, began in 2004 with the idea that international outreach should be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. After partnering with UofM engineering students, this idea would go on to be defined as "socially-engaged design".
In more recent years, our student-led group partnered with the NGO, CasaSito, to work with the community of Samox San Lucas, Guatemala to develop a bio-sand water filter for their schoolyard. Sa' Nima' members also collaborated with the school to teach English lessons and planned after school activities to get kids excited about science and math.
In 2014 Sa' Nima' joined as an official project team of the University of Michigan College of Engineering's BLUELab. That year Sa' Nima' began to pursue a solar lantern project in Samox, Guatemala. The team worked for two years to design and implement these lanterns, but finances and communication led the team to reevaluate and move to the community of Primavera del Ixcán, Guatemala which shares many of Sa' Nima's values. There, Sa' Nima' worked on clean water storage solutions.
Today, Sa' Nima' works with CasaSito-sponsored students based in San Cristobal Verapaz, Guatemala to implement sustainable solutions to their most pressing needs using the fundamental principles of socially-engaged design. In 2019 a needs assessment was performed that has shaped the projects to be ventilated stoves and mechanical washing machines. These engineering solutions were given to the families of Casasito Scholars in the summers of 2023 and 2024. In summer of 2025 a new needs assessment will be completed to ensure our team remains committed to the needs of the community we are serving.
Partner Organization: CasaSito
Sa'Nima is open to WINTER RECRUITMENT! Email the contact email address below or reach out to a project lead for more information.
Contact:
[email protected]
For updates on Sa' Nima', follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and our Website!