Mynor and Elizabeth live with their 4-month-old baby boy in the village of Olintepeque, just outside the city of Quetzaltenango. Mynor works for a publicity company in the city, while Elizabeth is a homemaker and sews clothing.

The couple have been in their Habitat home for just over a year now. From the time they entered the affiliate office and completed paperwork, it was only 46 days to the finished product—a home of their own. It’s what anyone wants, to know your family has a roof and something that is ours” says Mynor. “It’s better because when we were renting it was hard having just a room and not much else, the difference is here we have a room, bathroom and a kitchen area. Here, we have fresh air and land space to plant crops.”

The couple have a small garden on the side of the house and a plot of corn to the front of the house and plan to add more flowers and a patio to the front of the house in the future.

They remember the volunteers who visited quite well and shared this message of thanks: “thank you for the help that you came to give us and to collaborate. Thanks to you all, our house is well constructed.” Elizabeth beams that she still has the photos in her phone that were taken of the volunteers and of the construction in process and says she cherishes the memories of the process and the help that the volunteers gave. Now they feel happy to have their own house especially with a newborn.

“Thanks to God, Habitat came into our lives and we were able to build this house because of the help we received.”

Rodolfo, his wife Lydia and their only child, Rodolfo Jr. (8) live in the town of La Esperanza, Quetzaltenango. Rodolfo has been a truck driver for many years, Lydia cleans houses around the community and Rodolfo Jr., who is quite academically gifted is in the 2nd grade in school.

Rodolfo’s sister, Hildy, lives with the family and has her room in the house and the family is anticipating the arrival of Rodolfo’s mother, who will come to live with them soon. The couple realized that the old house was too small for everyone to live comfortably and they felt more than ever a growing need for a new house and the extra space it would bring. The family has been in their new home for seven months now, right on the same plot of land as their old house and are enjoying it.

They have plans to put finishing touches on the house such as doors on each of the rooms and a washtub at the front of the house where they can wash clothes.

«I wanted this house to remodel the other and because my husband would like to have his Mother live with us and the old house was too small for everyone to live comfortably,» says Lydia. Both Lydia and Rodolfo remember the volunteers very well—especially Nick! Lydia remembers that they were very kind, caring and one volunteers in particular loved to dance while she worked! “Thank you for coming and making such a special home for us. We are happy here and we never forget your kindness.”