It’s Thursday afternoon and German Leonardo Yac Yac is busy working in the fields near his home. It’s a picturesque scene as he makes his way back home for a chat, a lone figure walking through the open fields, blue sky behind him. Chuchexic is a big agricultural area where field work is the livelihood of the majority of its residents.

Before his new home was built by Habitat workers and the volunteers, German lived in his older brother’s house along with his two younger brothers and their mom. That house, located nearby down a small dirt path, shows its age. It is made of adobe brick, made mostly from sand, dirt, and water. Better suited to dry climates, adobe doesn’t fair well during Guatemala’s rainy season. The roof of this house is made of old sheet metal that isn’t properly secured so it “lifts up in the wind allowing a lot of dust to enter the house,” says German. The dust enters their lungs as well, potentially leading to respiratory issues further down the road. Around 52% of Guatemalans have suffered from respiratory illnesses.

Although the structural integrity of his brother’s house was not ideal, the main reason German moved out was because his brother was getting married and starting a family. He wanted his own space. Understanding that new families need their independence, German and his mom decided, hey, why not take this opportunity to build our own house? They had received positive feedback from a friend about the construction, security, and costs of a Habitat home, and so decided to solicit their help in pursuing their dream.

The building process was very quick thanks to the help of the volunteer team, knocking a week off the construction time. The new home is built of block, concrete, and steel rebar using earthquake resistant construction techniques, making it strong and safer from disaster. The roof is of corrugated sheet metal and German says “it is well sealed and no dust comes into the house when there are strong winds.”

German remembers well the group that worked here, explaining how they helped out a lot. He wants to thank them and tell them they are welcome to visit anytime to see his new home and how happy he is in it. For now, it is only he and his mother who are working on the transition from the old house to the new, adding things here and there to make it their own. They have a smokeless stove in their kitchen and have added beautiful ceramic tile to the outside, a personal touch. German’s two younger brothers will also be living here eventually, but for the time being they work in another department a half day’s trip away. They are contributing financially to the house, but are only able to visit once a month and as such haven’t yet seen the new house. German is looking forward to their reactions when they do.

German’s old place. The new house is a big upgrade.

It’s no easy thing having a landlord.

For Teresa, it was especially tough. «We would get woken up at 5 or 6 in the morning, somebody tapping at the door,» she says. The landlord didn’t respect the family’s privacy, and the neighbors didn’t either.

It didn’t make things any easier that the home was made of adobe, an inadequate building material made from dirt and calcium.

«I was always afraid the house would fall in an earthquake,» says Teresa. And back in the strong 2012 earthquake, the home was left with cracks up and down its crumbling walls.

With two children married and out of the house and two children still living under her roof, things needed to change. Teresa bought a plot of land not far away, and partnered with Habitat Guatemala to build her new house there.

«Thanks for having come,» she says to the volunteers who came to help build her house, «and having helped build my house. I’m thankful for the foundation [Habitat Guatemala] and for all the volunteers, that God has let my house be built!» She talks with a big smile. She’s a proud homeowner.

«I’m happy,» she says. «And I’m no longer worried about sleeping at night.» She also says that cooking in her new place is much more pleasant. «Here, we are on the edge of the road, we can see all the people go by. Before, we were removed, out in the country.»

Teresa is also thinking about the future. She says she’s happy that she’ll have something to give to her 14- and 17-year-old kids when they are older. Currently, her two married children are building a house on the same plot of land behind Teresa’s. Like her’s, it’s a cozy place with a nice view. Teresa is proud to be able to keep her family together.