Blog – Página 153 – Hábitat para la Humanidad Guatemala

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María Lopez, Margarita Dolores, & María Chacah

9 mayo, 2016/en Meet our families /por admin

The María López Family

Maria Lopez, 49, is the strong matriarch of a household of 18 children and grandchildren. With so many mouths to feed, she is constantly busy cooking, cleaning, and weaving baskets to sell around town. Accordingly, it is essential that her home has a reliable and functional stove.
For years, Maria cooked on a stove that would start unwanted fires and produce lots of smoke. Her whole family was breathing the stove’s smoke daily and her home was dirty with smoke residue. This all changed when she found out that, with the help of Habitat, installing an alternative smokeless stove would be possible.
Maria has fond memories of the volunteer team that came to construct the stove. She remembers, “The brigade worked so hard. I am so grateful for them.” She can now cook all of her family’s favorite foods on the stove top without burning her hands or getting lots of smoke in her eyes.
In addition to the stove, Maria’s family is happy to have a brand new latrine in the backyard. It has sturdy wood walls, a tin roof with open space for ventilation, and best of all, a plastic toilet covering the earth. Maria remarks, “It is better than our old one, because I don’t have as much of a mess here.”
Overall, the new smokeless stove and latrine have provided healthy and clean upgrades for Maria and her family, taking necessary steps to reduce the risk of lung and and airborne disease.

The Margarita Dolores Pacheco Family

For Marcela Jojero, age 79, receiving her smokeless stove was an emotional rollercoaster. Amid the excitement of the volunteer team’s arrival and the construction of the new stove, Marcela’s husband, who had been suffering from an illness for some time, passed away. Surrounded by Habitat volunteers and family, Marcela mourned her husband’s death. “It’s such a shame that he couldn’t live to enjoy the stove,” she says. Nevertheless, with her husband’s memory alive and strong, the stove brought much happiness and improvement to her life.
Sacarias Cacach, age 12, and Maricela Cacach, age 13, are two of Marcela’s grandchildren who speak the native Mayan dialect and Spanish. They explain that the new stove is much better than the old one. It is easier to use, produces no smoke, and uses less wood to stay hot. Maricela explains, “The new stove is great. It’s easier to clean and cooks food faster.” They often help their grandmother with cooking on the new stove and cleaning it with a small straw brush. Together they cook tortillas, soups, and vegetables, among other favorite foods. Marcela misses her husband everyday, but is happy to be able to easily cook and share meals with her children and grandchildren.
Their new smokeless stove causes less damage than the old one – both to their health and to their house. The house is no longer filled with smoke, and its users can breathe freely. Now, kneeling over a fire on the ground is just a memory.

The María Chacah and Ana Rosalia Families

Maria Chacah Samol, age 45, and Ana Rosalia Sanic, age 23, live next door to each other and are always busy cooking for their husbands and children. They are both thrilled to have received new stoves and latrines from Habitat, which they agree are much better than what they had been previously using. Ana Rosalia explains, “We called Habitat because, above all else, there were problems with how much smoke the stoves were producing.”
The new stoves use less wood, are bigger, and are much easier to use. Whereas the old stoves would use ten logs of wood to stay hot, the new one requires as little as two. Furthermore, the families no longer have to worry about the health risks of breathing in smoke day after day while cooking. The new stoves produce virtually no smoke, and thus are much safer for their growing families.
Growing families also need clean and hygienic bathrooms, so Maria and Ana Rosalia are grateful to have new latrines. The new latrines are a great improvement, as they are well ventilated and have plastic toilets covering the earth, which are much easier to use and clean.
The two women remember the construction process fondly. They say that the international volunteer team was friendly and hardworking. The new stoves and latrines serve as daily reminders of the wonderful crew that dedicated their time and energy to helping their families live healthier and easier lives.

The Michelle Guzman Family

28 abril, 2016/en Meet our families /por admin

Trudging through the rain under a half-broken umbrella, Michelle Guzman reaches in her pocket for her house key. She walks with her little daughter, Cecilia, who is happily tiptoeing through puddles to her door, as if it were a game.

Michelle, a proud parent of 10-year-old Cecilia and 3-year-old Mia, is coming back from her work at a restaurant where she sells tortillas de harina, or flour tortillas.

“Me? I’m proud of my work!” she says. “Once I went to that restaurant, and I loved the food. So I decided to work there.”

She tells about where she used to live. Her old living arrangements were her mom’s house, a 30-meter walk down the path. “It was tight,” says Michelle, widening her eyes. “There were three rooms, and there were four of us. Everyone wanted their own space. And on top of the ruckus of my girls, it was too much.”

“And,” says Michelle cautiously, “my mother has a character…”

Michelle was living under her mom’s roof for a long time raising kids for years. She had tried to get her own house, but there was no way to gather thousands of Quetzals at a time for a plot of land and a house.

“That’s the advantage of Habitat,” she says. “You can pay monthly, you don’t have to pay it all at once.”

Her mother’s house was a Habitat house, so she thought, why not get my own?

Before long, a group of volunteers from Thrivent Financial were bending iron, hauling blocks, and making memories. Upon remembering them, Michelle opened her eyes wide and said, “they helped a TON! They worked really well together and they wanted to help as much as they could. They were so noble. Not every person does what they did. We are really thankful for their help, and our doors are always open for them, even my mom’s doors!”

For Michelle, the biggest difference that the house has made is that her family is now stable. Before, they were living in cramped quarters in her mom’s house, and sometimes living with their father in another part of town. Michelle and the children’s father had decided it would be best if the children had a place to call home, so they permanently live in the new Habitat house with Michelle.

“In my mother’s house, they weren’t going to have a future. It’s best that they have a place to be. I want my daughters to have a stability and a future,” says Michelle. “Whatever happens, they can defend themselves because they have this place.”

Michelle also recognizes her role as a parent in the new found stability of her family. “It’s important that I make good decisions, because they depend on me and the decisions I make.”

Michelle is also taking care of more than just her kids. She babysits the neighbors’ kids during the day, so she can make a bit of added income to help make her monthly house payment.

“My kids finally have a place to be,” says 29-year-old Michelle. It’s apparent that she’s a proud mother by the way she holds her children and smiles as they giggle and play tag in their bedroom with the neighbor kids.

She’s going to paint the place olive green or mustard color when she gets the chance. And she has reason to, because her neighbors are going to have a little competition to see who can have the best artistic work in the neighborhood. “After I plant grass and a few trees, I’ll win it,” she says, smiling.

Q&A with Renaud Cuchet: «Not only theory, there has to be action»

19 abril, 2016/en News EN /por admin

On April 2, 2016, Renaud Cuchet was elected president of the board during Habitat Guatemala’s annual National Assembly. Here’s his experience and vision for Habitat Guatemala:

Please explain your position.

I am the newly elected president of the board. I’ve been national member of Habitat Guatemala for 20 years. I’ve served on several boards of directors several times in the past. From 2008 to 2011 I was already president of the board. And I’ve served as various other positions as well, like treasurer.

Why are you passionate about Habitat Guatemala?

I was friends with Don Luis [Habitat Guatemala’s president] even before he was president. He told me about the great things the organization is doing for Guatemalan families. Before he was appointed director, he was going to meetings to be able to help Guatemalan families in practical ways. If you can improve the conditions that the families are living in a little bit, you are doing a lot of good. What I like about Habitat is the very low administrative cost, compared to the amount spent on families. It’s an efficient organization and that’s why I decided to join.

Why housing?

I traveled a lot in rural areas of country and in Central America because I’m a coffee trader. I go to rural communities, and each time I go I am sensitive to how people live in the countryside. I’ve seen great needs of improving standard of living of Guatemalan people. I’ve been touched by their needs and I want to do something about it.

What’s your coffee trading business like?

National members of Habitat Guatemala are all volunteers. We all have another life besides that.

I work with a coffee trading company, and we have buyers in North America, Europe, and Asia. I work mostly with importers, and sometimes with roasters. We have to look for the quality asked for by buyers, we do sourcing, quality control, and we deal with their needs for the specialty coffee business. Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding about quality. The company also has a foundation, and we have partnered with Habitat Guatemala a few times to install water filters, latrines, and smokeless stoves in the region of San Marcos. We want to keep on doing that.

What is your vision for Habitat Guatemala?

We want to reach as many families as we can. Now we are really paying a lot of attention to families who cannot afford a full house. Currently for 2016 our goal is to serve 10,125 families, of which 2500 should be full houses. The rest should be home repairs and Healthy Home Kits. The next goal is the 100,000th family served.

As President of the Board, what are you going to push for?

We want to push forward national volunteers in Guatemala. At first it was hard to convince Guatemalans to volunteer, but now it’s working really well. And we still want to push this forward and raise local donations. In the beginning volunteering wasn’t too much in the Guatemalan mentality. That was 20 years ago, and lots of people thought of Habitat Guatemala as an organization for foreigners to volunteer at. Now, working with universities, there is a sense of social responsibility and corporate responsibility. Large Guatemalan organizations are taking Habitat’s vision and getting on board. In schools and universities, students are realizing that if they want to teach their country they need to get involved. It can’t only be theory; there has to be action also.

Any parting words?

I’m very thankful for our international volutneers who are willing to help improve Guatemalan families’ lives. It’s a very important part of our program. We have a good structure in Guatemala to welcome international volunteers, to receive support of international donors. People are always welcome to come here and visit us.

Living in an Adobe House

10 marzo, 2016/en News EN /por admin

Hanging things on the wall was out of the question – the wall would have crumbled with any attempt at nailing something into it. For María’s family, that was one of the disadvantages of living in an adobe house. She notes that her old adobe house had become humid, because the adobe had started to soak up all the water from the ground, leaving the interior of the house in a constant state of dampness. And aside from the uncomfort and inconvenience of it all, there was a big security factor involved. After all, adobe is dried mud, but when it’s wet mud, it doesn’t hold.

«I was nervous for an earthquake,» says María. «It was a litte said to live there. The adobe wasn’t secure.»

Harboring that worry in the back of your mind is taxing and unsettling. Even more unsettling is when your worry turns into a reality.

November 7, 2012. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocks western part of Guatemala, destroying thousands of homes from Huehuetenango to Quetzaltenango to San Marcos. The first homes to give way: those that were adobe. Those that didn’t crumble were left standing with severe cracks, leaving homeowners worried that another tremor would finish the job.

Soila and Manuel woke up in the middle of the night because of the shaking. Their adobe house didn’t crumble, but it left a huge crack in the back of the house. They were left restless and unassured of the its stability. Would there be another tremor? How much damage did the house actually suffer? These were the questions that kept Soila and Manuel up at night…until they got their Habitat house.

Habitat Guatemala is addressing these issues. There are 1.8 million houses to be made in order for everyone to live in an adequate home. Many of these homes need to be built in the countryside, where a huge amount of families live in adobe houses in varying conditions. María and her family are also safe and sound in a Habitat house, but many of her neighbors in Cantel, Quetzaltenango are still living in humble adobe abodes. It is our mission to provide access for these low-income families to have an adequate and affordable home.

Torneo de Golf – 7o. Open Para la Humanidad

17 febrero, 2016/en Noticias /por Hábitat Guatemala

El pasado 4 de marzo se llevó a cabo nuestro 7º torneo abierto de golf, «7º Open para la Humanidad», en el Guatemala Country club, con la participación de 38 jugadores, se dio inicio a las 7:30 horas y compieron por los premios individuales y en parejas.

Al pasar por el hoyo 12, todo los jugadores tuvieron la oportunidad de ganar un Volkswagen Tiguan como premio al Hole in One, sin embargo tendremos que esperar un año más para que un jugador pueda llevarse el vehículo a casa.

Al término del juego, un aproximado de 75 personas entre jugadores, visitantes y acompañantes visitaron los diferentes Stands de marcas patrocinadoras, instalados dentro del área de la terraza de la casa club y piscina.

Finalmente llegamos al momento que todos esperaban, la premiación individual y en parejas, llevada a cabo durante el almuerzo, alternada con una rifa de más de 30 premios.

Ganadores Best Ball en parejas

Ganadores Individuales

Primer lugar con un Score de 60

Alejandra Suger
Luis Pedro Arroyave

Straightest Driver en Hoyo 11

Stefan Preuss

Segundo lugar con un Score de 61

Federico Staebler
Carlos Porras

Closest to the Pin en Hoyo 2

Fernando Lee

Tercer lugar con Score un de 61

Rodrigo OliveroChristopher Andrews

Closest to the Pin en Hoyo 8

Luis Porras

Premio Neto Individual 65

Carlos Porras Méndez

Premio al Gross

Rodrigo Olivero

Agradecemos a todos nuestros patrocinadores y Jugadores por participar en el 7º Open para la humanidad.

Todo lo recaudado servirá para continuar los proyectos de construcción, con los cuales se benefician a varias familias guatemaltecas, lo cual equivale a:

A Full Week as a Volunteer

19 enero, 2016/en News EN /por admin

The St. Louis College of Pharmacy came to Guatemala on a special trip that counted for college credits. Want to know what a trip is like? Check it out below!

January 5

After 2 plane rides, a night in Guatemala City, and a 4 hour bus ride, we finally made it to our hotel in Retalhuleu, Guatemala! During our bus ride, we were able to see several volcanos towering over the forests through the window.

Perhaps the best part of our day was meeting with the families whose homes we will be building. The first family was represented by Olga, the mother of an 11 year old daughter and two adorable 18 month old twin boys. Currently, this family of 5 lives in Olga’s mother’s house under very crammed conditions…

Read the full post here.

January 6

We report to you today with sore muscles and a bit of a suntan. If you couldn’t guess it, today was our first day on site! We started off our day by eating breakfast at the hotel. Our meal consisted of two eggs, each topped with different colored salsas, which we later learned was a dish that the Guatemalans call the “divorced eggs.”

At the work site where Olga’s house is being built, the foundation had been previously laid and the team primarily worked on preparing rebar and cinder blocks for the next step in the construction process. Besides this, the team also filled in many trenches along the work grounds with dirt and leveled the work site in order to continue at the site tomorrow. At the other work site building Selvian’s house, the team is currently working on laying the foundation, so they spent most of their time tying rebar as well as moving multiple loads of gravel and cinder blocks in preparation for the foundation that is soon to come…

Read the full post here

January 7

After breakfast, we mixed up the work teams from yesterday and headed to our sites. There, we attempted new skills or built upon skills learned yesterday and had the opportunity to interact with a new family. After mixing a lot cement, moving a lot of bricks, and tying a lot of rebar we went back to the hotel for lunch. The hotel has offered a great mix of cultural foods and American foods for us.

Tonight, we had two special moments. The first came when one of our team leaders, Ronnie shared a story of why he decided to dedicate his life to volunteering. He told us a story of visiting Guatemala and how 5 US dollars helped saved a family friend. That was the moment he decided to make real change in the life of others. Our second special moment came when we were able to see local kids and adults play in band performance right outside the hotel (pictured above). Although we were all tired from our day of work, we couldn’t help but smile at these talented and passionate kids. Those are the moments we’ll remember when asked about this trip; those are the memories we came to make…

Read the full post here

January 8

Another day of work accomplished! We started our day with breakfast at the hotel (and coffee, of course). Our morning devotion, shared by Jocelyn, encouraged us all to “Either find a way or make one.” This trip is all about learning to solve new problems and dis covering new ways of thinking.

The work is definitely not easy, but very rewarding. Getting the chance to interact with the families makes all of our hard work worth it. We then headed back to the hotel for lunch. Here, we enjoyed sandwiches, fries, and a traditional Guatemalan hibiscus juice. Back at the worksite, one team got the chance to observe a traditional Guatemalan funeral procession. The whole neighborhood gathered for this…

Read the full post here

January 9

Work hard, play hard is a perfect motto to sum up our team’s day. We began our Saturday with breakfast and a very meaningful biblical devotion from Luke 10:25-37. It stressed the importance of loving your neighbor as yourself even when it is not convenient for you. This was a perfect reminder of our purpose along with Habitat for Humanity’s purpose here in Guatemala.
With this message in mind, along with our work gloves and water bottles in hand, we loaded up in the vans for another day’s work. This day was a little different from the others…it was cut short for a trip to the beach! Although it was hot, pouring cement and tying rebar seemed to go much quicker with views of the ocean in the near.

To top the day off we ended with a trip to a local turtle conservation area. Although the main hatching season is from July to December and no turtles were present, it was still an interesting sight to see. We were all fascinated by the amount of impact this organization had on the turtle population…they alone helped save over 4,000 turtles this season!
With our sunburnt skin and bellies full, we all left the beach and headed back to the hotel. As usual, we ended the night with a delicious dinner and card games to follow. We all plan to get a good night’s rest as another busy day awaits…

Read the full post here

January 10

Sunday Funday! The day started with some members of our team heading to mass. At breakfast, we were happily joined by Ronnie’s family. Per usual, we started our day with a devotion lead by Matthew, which encouraged us to practice empathy.

Our first stop of the day was the Tak Alik Abaj Mayan ruins, where Ronnie translated the entire tour from Spanish to English for the group. Although only 8% of the ruins are completely excavated, we were able to tour parts of the city where most business and prayers was conducted. A few facts we learned today were:
1. The Mayans held the sun in high esteem during prayer. Even homes of important people faced the direction of the rising Sun in the East.

2. The jaguar was an animal that symbolised power to the Mayans, and jade was a symbol of both power and prestige.

3. There were no metal tools during this time, so the stone carvings and hieroglyphics were made with other stones.

4. The world’s oldest Mayan burial site is dated back to a location we were able to see and it was believed to date back to 700 B.C….

Read the full post here

January 11

Back to work today! Instead of splitting into two teams as usual, all members of the team went to one site. This was to move cinder blocks from one side of the site to the other so the masons coils build up the walls. Although moving blocks sounds easy, it proved to be the ultimate team building adventure. We formed a long line and passed the blocks down one by one. This process would go on for quite a few hours (with breaks, of course). After we moved blocks at one site, we moved all the blocks at the other site as well. With aching muscles and dirty clothes, we packed into the vans and headed back to the hotel.

Dinner was a lovely display of stuffed chicken and mashed potatoes. Afterwards, the group had a discussion on empathy, altruism, and justice. However, the main lesson of the day and of most of this trip proved to be teamwork. Without the help of our peers, we could never have accomplished the almost impossible task of moving literally tons of cinder blocks and to help build these houses…

Read the full post here

January 12

To get back to our hotel, we decided to use these very small cars called “tu tics.” They were red and could only hold about three people. To me, they looked and sounded like go-karts. These vehicles are a very common mode of transportation around this city. Riding them was a fun experience. After our trip from the market, we all stood with one of the drivers and took a picture (picture above).

During our discussion after dinner, we talked about how we use every ounce of life out of the tools we are given on the job sites. From tying chicken wire around bolt cutters instead of buying new ones to using the back side of a machete instead of a sharp hatchet, the tools we use are important and we find ways to keep using them as best as we can. In America, labor is more expensive than the tools, but down here, the tools are a much greater expense. Lastly, we talked about the importance of empathizing with patients and how we should not take their frustration for face value. Every person fights their own battles. Therefore, as professionals we should respect them and attempt to understand our patients’ actions from their points of view.

Read the full post here

January 13

If there is one thing that has become overwhelmingly obvious over the course of this trip, it’s that each and every one of us loves nothing more than getting some sleep. We appreciate our rest so much that most of us practically inhale our lunches in a matter of minutes just to make some time for a quick siesta before heading back to the worksite! Because it’s true that we cherish every moment in bed, we were all overjoyed that we got the chance to sleep in an extra hour this morning. At breakfast, Alexa led the devotional and shared the following Maya Angelou quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I think this quote really hit home for many of us; the conversations we have with the families we are working with will not be something they remember for the rest of their lives (because most of a speak more Spanglish than we do Spanish). However, what I truly hope will last a lifetime is the mutual feeling of love and respect that can be felt between us, the families, and the masons.

Read the full post here

January 14

All good things must come to an end. As we all woke to the usual hustle and bustle of Retalhuleu and headed to breakfast, there was a sense of sorrow that filled the air. We all knew today was the last day on the sites with the crews and families to whom we had grown so close. We divided up into teams per usual and headed off for our final day of work.

The ceremony consisted of the masons thanking us for our hard work over these past two weeks and then members of our team giving them signs and bibles for their new homes. Mary Lou and Mathew then took the stage and presented photos of the team as well as paper hearts all signed by the team members to Selvian and Olga. The hearts will be place in the wall of the house to let the families know we will always be with them and the are never alone while the photos will give them something to look at and remember these great two weeks we shared. Then, the local affiliates surprised us all by calling us up individually and giving each of us personalized wooden plaques that where hand made and engraved with our names and Mayan artwork.

Read the full post here

Oficina Nacional Quetzaltenango

atención al cliente

QUETZALTENANGO

18 avenida 5-13 zona 3.

7736-8264 / 7763-7524 / 4740-6832

quetzaltenango@habitatguate.org

empleos

Oficina Nacional Ciudad Capital

atención al cliente

GUATEMALA (REGIÓN GUATE-CENTRO)

3 Av. 8-26, Zona 10. Guatemala

23392223

atencionfamilias@habitatguate.org

Educación