Blog – Página 78 – Hábitat para la Humanidad Guatemala

Lisbetha Chilel Family

3 julio, 2019/en Meet our families, News /por admin

Just recently, elections were held nationwide in Guatemala—throughout each city, town and village are signs in support of candidates and political parties, Lisbetha and Marco’s house is no exception, they proudly display the emblem of a their preferred party on their new house. Lisbetha and her husband Marco live in the village of San Mateo, Quetzaltenango.

Before living in their current Habitat house, they lived in one-bedroom in the house of their in-laws that served as both bedroom and kitchen. They wanted a house of their own to be independent as a couple. Lisbetha says she feels at ease and happy having their new home. They have plans to fence the house and want to make it bigger with time – the house currently has one large bedroom and a second room adjacent that serves as the kitchen. As it turns out, the extra space will be needed as Lisbetha and Marco are expecting their first child later this year in October. In the meantime, Lisbetha fills her days taking care of her nephew Rodrigo, while Marco is at work.

Of the volunteers, Lisbetha remembers how kind the group was and always smiling. “We got along like family,” Lisbetha says. “Thank you for the help, wherever you are, I wish the best for you and hope that when you come, hopefully there will be a second level to our home.” she says with a smile.

Voluntarios llevando esperanza y bienestar

28 junio, 2019/en Voluntariado /por lgalvez

El voluntariado se transforma en servicio a la comunidad, el mismo genera un sentimiento de solidaridad y crea conciencia social no solamente para quien participa de las actividades sino para las personas que le rodean y después se involucran en voluntariado.

Luis Pedro Paniagua, es un voluntario que nos acompañó en la construcción de una estufa para la Familia de Maritza Urlau, convivió con la familia y se esforzó con manos y corazón para apoyar a mejorar las condiciones de vida de la familia por medio del voluntariado.

“Es una experiencia bonita, ya que nos ayuda compartir con los compañeros y saber que estas ayudando a una familia en mejorar sus condiciones de vida es una gran satisfacción para mí”. Luis Pedro Paniagua, Voluntario Bac Credomatic.

Construyendo sueños: Rolden Velásquez

28 junio, 2019/en Familias /por j.bailon

En el Barrio San Miguel en Siquinalá, Escuintla se encuentra el terreno en donde vivía la familia de Rolden Velásquez. Ahí habitaban en un cuarto construido de materiales como lámina, cartón y madera, no contaban con puertas, el piso era tierra y en cada invierno, la lluvia y el lodo hacían estragos.

Don Rolden es vendedor de libros en los buses del área de Escuintla. Él soñaba con una casa propia, pero sus ingresos no le permitían ahorrar y construir; sin embargo, nunca descartó la idea de que un día su sueño se realizaría.

Gracias al rótulo que Hábitat coloca en sus construcciones, Rolden se enteró de la oportunidad de construir su vivienda con Hábitat. Con pena pero con confianza decidió preguntar sobre como podría él construir su propia vivienda.

No transcurrió mucho tiempo para que se acercara a nuestra oficina en Escuintla a solicitar información, la alegría lo invadió al enterarse que las cuotas eran accesibles y que optar a la construcción de un nuevo hogar estaba más cerca que nunca. Tres meses tardó la autorización de crédito y la construcción de su nuevo hogar.

Ahora Rolden y sus cuatro hijos se encuentran en un hogar con un espacio amplio, con servicios que les brinda comodidad, seguridad y bienestar, en donde juntos pueden disfrutar momentos de felicidad en familia.

“Agradecemos el apoyo de Fundación Hábitat, por darnos la oportunidad de adquirir nuestra casa. Animamos a las demás personas para que tengan la misma experiencia que nosotros y se acerquen a construir su casa”. Don Rolden, beneficiario de vivienda Hábitat.

Comunidades saludables: Maritza Urlao

28 junio, 2019/en Familias /por j.bailon

Con el objetivo de ayudar a las familias de la Aldea Bola de Oro, Chimaltenango, trabajamos en conjunto con voluntarios de Bac Credomatic en la construcción de estufas mejoradas. El proyecto ayuda a mejorar la salud y la economía familiar, ya que reduce el 95 por ciento del humo dentro de la vivienda y la tala de árboles.

Maritza tiene 29 años de edad, vive con su esposo y sus 3 hijos. Ella recuerda que desde niña cocinaba a fuego abierto y que por esa razón tiene quemaduras en los brazos. Cuando estaba embarazada de su última hija, que ahora tiene 3 años, se le cayó una olla de café en todo su estómago provocándole serias quemaduras y dificultades durante su embarazo.

La familia de Maritza vive en condiciones de extrema pobreza y su esposo tras el accidente, construyó una estufa con un tonel evitando que el fuego tuviera contacto con su cuerpo, pero esto no deja a un lado que existe un riesgo para sus hijos y el humo quedaba atrapado en la cocina.

Por estos motivos la familia decidió unirse al proyecto de estufas mejoradas de la comunidad, ya que con estas estufas, no solo no sufrirá de quemaduras por cocinar a fuego abierto, sino que ya no se le enrojeceran los ojos y además economizara en el consumo de leña.

“Agradezco a Hábitat por la ayuda, con mi estufa ya no gastaremos tanto en leña, tendré más tiempo con mis hijos y el riesgo de que sufran quemaduras será menor”. Maritza Urlao, beneficiaria de una Estufa Mejorada.

Nazario Reyes Family

25 junio, 2019/en Meet our families, News /por admin

Nazario and Cedelina are proud parents to five adult children. The couple recently retired and to make ends meet, Nazario helps at a local laboratory in San Miguel. The couple is active in their church and Cedelina, who has been a homemaker for many years, spends her time on committees and visiting her children and grandchildren. With their children all grown up and not living with them, “there’s nothing to clean” Cedelina says and laughs as she realizes that she too, is retired.

Their children visit occasionally, and their two youngest grandchildren spend the summers with them. When asked about their favorite part of the house, Cedelina says it’s having enough space for family gatherings. She also shares how much her guests comment on the house, how beautiful it is and especially the natural light that flows throughout. One of their daughters has even wanted to learn more about building a house through Habitat after seeing her parent’s house for the first time.

For Nazario, his favorite part is the house’s structure and design—»this house is well built” she says. Nazario shared that in their old house, they worried whether the roof would collapse each time there was an earthquake, as it was not well built. There were also tarantulas that would enter the house, which the couple were uncomfortable with as the spiders are venomous. “Because our house is now so well built, we have a strong roof and we haven’t seen any spiders inside.” The couple enjoys having their Habitat house for their peace of mind.

As for plans, they’d like to put a fence around the house and to take advantage of the opportunity to expand the house once they’ve paid off half of their debt.

“For me it’s beautiful how Habitat conducts its business, because they give people who wouldn’t have the money to build a house the opportunity to build and they include volunteers. Even for the volunteers who didn’t speak Spanish, there was a translator that we could all communicate and interact,” says Nazario.

To the volunteers, Nazario and Cedelina send sincere thanks, “Thank you for coming to San Miguel. I give thanks to God and to you for coming—I hope that God will bless each of you and take care of you and bless you with good health. We have you in your hearts and I always think about you. I hope that if you come another time to our home that you will come and say hello!” Cedelina says. “They were very kind. When they were finishing the house, they asked for my number so we could stay in touch on WhatApp but I don’t have a telephone” Cedelina continues and smiles, “it was very kind of them and made me happy that they wanted to stay connected.” “Having them here made us very happy—it was a beautiful experience. Thank you for coming,” adds Nazario.

Oscar González Family

25 junio, 2019/en Meet our families, News /por admin

Oscar his wife, Jessica and their 3 children, Fatima(8), Sebastian(4) and Leo Fernando(2) live in the town of Rincón de Jesús, Baja Verapaz. Oscar is a security guard and Jessica is a homemaker. Prior to building their Habitat home, the family lived in the countryside and wanted a house closer to town to get their daughter Fatima to school more easily. “Here it’s only 15 minutes to the center of town. Even the most basic necessity, if she needs it for an assignment, we can get it and don’t spend time or money on transportation” says Oscar.

There are lots of things the family enjoys about the house, “we have a great space, especially for the kids to live and play and have 4 rooms for each of them and for us.” The family’s prior house was made of adobe and when it rained, the floor inside their house turned to mud because it lacked proper flooring and the roof leaked often. “Having this house has helped us a lot, it’s been a great benefit.” says Oscar. It’s also a change in environment. In our old house, we were surrounded by pure nature, with lots of fresh air, but here we are surrounded by more people and have a better quality of life.”

When asked about the volunteers, Oscar remembers and sends greetings to the whole group. “It was a great help and the kids had a lot of fun with them.” More than anything, thank you for the help you came to give my family because it has helped us a lot.”