Blog – Página 114 – Hábitat para la Humanidad Guatemala

Comunidades saludables – Elena Juan Miguel

1 junio, 2018/en Familias /por j.bailon

Regresó a Guatemala a los 7 años de edad, después de que su familia junto a la comunidad de San Miguel Acatán Huehuetenango emigraran a Chiapas, México durante el conflicto armado.

Parte de las familias regresaron y se asentaron en lo que hoy es San Vicente Paul, Guanagazapa en Escuintla, les llevó tiempo adaptarse nuevamente sobre todo por las condiciones deplorables en las que se encontraba en ese momento la Finca.

Desde que era pequeña Elena cocinaba junto a su mamá a fuego abierto lo que durante mucho tiempo le provocó enrojecimiento en los ojos y quemaduras, además de inhalar el humo que se encerraba en la casa.

Hoy, Elena está casada y tiene dos hijos, ella es ama de casa y en ocasiones hace morrales de crochet para vender y así aportar ingresos para apoyar a su esposo quien se dedica a la agricultura en siembras de maíz y frijol.

Se levanta temprano para empezar el arreglo del hogar, baña a los niños y luego prepara los alimentos para el almuerzo de la familia, por eso es tan importante el espacio donde realiza esta actividad.

“Estamos conscientes que este apoyo cuesta dinero y por eso estamos agradecidos, ya que no es fácil salir a ganarse el pan de cada día”.- Elena Juan Miguel

El COCODE de la comunidad en una de las reuniones que realizan hizo el anuncio que se realizaría un proyecto de estufas mejoradas y aprovecharon la oportunidad para aplicar y fue así como inició el cambio en su vida después de haber pedido a Dios por una ayuda como la nuestra.

Hoy no sufre de quemaduras por cocinar a fuego abierto, no se le enrojecen los ojos, tampoco enfermedades respiratorias por el humo que se encierra en la casa, además economiza en el consumo de leña.

https://www.habitatguate.org/contactenos/

The Tzul Family

22 mayo, 2018/en Meet our families, News /por admin

Isabel Tzul lives with her husband, Mario, and their four sons–Mario, Abner, Christian, and Daniel–in the department of Totonicapán, Guatemala. While Mario works as a superintendent of the local school and the four boys are in class, Isabel takes care of her families home and weaves traditional clothing which she sells.

«Before building our home on land that I inherited from my father, we lived about fifteen minutes away on the other side of the mountain.», Isabel explains. «Our house was old and deteriorating. There was also no way to access it by car so we decided to build our new home here. It is much easier to take care of things where we live now. And thanks to God we are comfortable! Our house is not too hot or too cold.»

«Habitat Guatemala has an office in Totonicapán and we had always heard about them, so we went to the office for information about the house designs. It’s nice that Habitat Guatemala does this work! We chose our design because we have four children who are still growing.», Isabel continues.

Isabel smiles when she talks about the volunteers who traveled to Guatemala for a week to support the mason she and her family hired to build their home. «Truthfully, it was lovely to have them here! We liked how kind they were. We always remember them and the fundamental role they played in building our home. May God bless them! We think of them every time we look at the photo they gave us.»

Healthy Home Kit: Basilia Mucun

17 mayo, 2018/en Meet our families, News /por admin

«My old stove was extremely small and it was a challenge to cook on.», begins Basilia Mucun. «My new stove is a good stove and it saves wood!»

Basilia and her husband live with their two children in a community in the department of Chimaltenango. Because they live in an urban area, they purchase the wood they use to cook and heat their home. Habitat Guatemala smokeless stoves are designed to use significantly less wood than most stoves families have access to, which saves money, time, and resources.

Basilia and her family partnered with Habitat Guatemala to obtain a complete Healthy Home Kit, which, in addition to a smokeless stove, consists of a water filter and sanitary latrine. In Guatemala, 95% of the water is contaminated. The only way for people to access clean water is to either boil or filter it. With wood being scarce and expensive, it is difficult for families to boil all the water they use in a day, which leads to many people using contaminated water.

Through the education provided by Habitat Guatemala, Basilia has learned how to maintain her filter so that it will last for the next two years, providing her family with clean water and preventing waterborne illnesses.

Outside Basilia’s house is her new latrine. «My old latrine was fifteen years old.», says Basilia. «Our new latrine is much better and we are very happy with it!» As part of partnering with Habitat Guatemala, Basilia’s family dug the latrine pit before the volunteers arrived to assist in the construction of the latrine. Now, the Mucun family has a clean, sanitary, and dry latrine to use.

Basilia concludes with a message to the volunteers: «»I am so thankful to God and the volunteers who supported me by assembling my new stove and latrine!»

María Esperanza

17 mayo, 2018/en Meet our families, News /por admin

María Esperanza is a single mother of two adorable boys, 5-year-old Paulo and 3-year-old Diego. She owns a shop in Panajachel and before she built her home in San Lucas, she rented a home for her family. When she found affordable land in the San Lucas area, she knew it was a good opportunity to stop renting and build a house, allowing her to save financially and invest in the future of her family.

María explains how owning her own home has improved her life: «Having my home is so different! When I rented a house, we only had two rooms. Now we have more space, I can do what I want with my home, and I don’t have to worry about my boys breaking something in a house that isn’t mine!»

María wants to send a message to the two groups who volunteered to help build her new home: «It was a big help to have the volunteers! I want to say thank you to both groups for their time. It helped speed up the building process so that we could move into the house sooner.»

Smokeless Stoves: Vicenta and Luis

15 mayo, 2018/en Meet our families, News /por admin

Vicenta and Luis live in the community of El Chipotón in the department of Chimaltenango. They have been married for thirty-two years and have lived in their home just as long. Their seven children live nearby; the youngest is fifteen and the oldest is thirty. Before partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala to build a smokeless stove, Vicenta cooked on the floor of her kitchen. When they learned about the support that Habitat Guatemala offers families in a nearby town, she and Luis decided to contact the local office and see if they qualified for a stove. And they are both happy that they did.

«I buy the wood that I cook with.», explains Vicenta. «It didn’t used to last as long, but now we use much less wood. The same amount of wood lasts longer.» Luis adds that he has noticed a difference in the amount of smoke in the house as well. «Now the smoke gets carried outside of the house.», he says. «Before it all stayed in the kitchen.»

The couple agrees that they enjoyed having the volunteers spend time with them and are happy that they all shared a meal together. «The volunteers are good people!» finishes Luis.

Smokeless Stoves: Ana María

15 mayo, 2018/en Meet our families, News /por admin

Ana María and her family live in El Chipotón, a community in the department of Chimaltenango. She and her husband, Moises, have four children. Before financing a new, smokeless stove with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, Ana María used an old stove that filled her kitchen with smoke and used double the amount of wood. In this area, people do not have access to land where they can gather their own wood, so they have to buy wood for cooking and warmth in the markets. Deforestation is an issue in Guatemala and this affects families like Ana María’s. For this reason, having a stove that uses wood efficiently has made a positive impact in Ana María’s life.

She explains how her new stove has changed the amount of wood she must buy to take care of her family: «We use much less wood now. The same amount of wood that used to last for one month now lasts for two months.» Ana María also shares that her old stove was very small, which made it challenging to cook food for her entire family. «I can cook more food now!», she shares. «And my tortillas turn out really well.»

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