Cesar Herrera, his wife María Piedad and their two daughters, Adela (11) and Elena (2) are living in their new house in Chimaltenango. Before partnering with Habitat Guatemala, Cesar, who is an electrician, and his family were renting and moving from one house to another.

They learned about Habitat Guatemala at a local hardware store that promotes our work, and decided it was a great opportunity to finally have a house of their own. “Last year, our Christmas gift was the authorization of our mortgage loan,” says María.

Cesar explains: “our hope was to give our daughters a safe place where to live, and now it is a dream come true.”

The Herrera family is decorating their house little by little and have a lot of plans for the future, like adding a concrete fence out front,  false ceiling and even a small salon space for María, who is a hairstylist.  “I have always dreamt of having a big garden, with different types of flowers and plant, and now I am happy, because little by little I am starting to grow my own garden,” says María.

“We feel really happy, renting was not easy, but now we are in our home,” expresses Cesar about their house.

They have great memories about the volunteers, “It was a very special experience, we shared laughs and jokes,” they continued: “We would not have advanced so fast in the construction if it had not been for the volunteers help.”

“We are very grateful for the volunteers, they were a big part of our dream that is now a reality. May God bless you all, feel welcome anytime you want to come back, we will happily receive you!» they expressed, as a message to the volunteers.