Doña Carmen, her husband Fredy, and their two daughters Alixa (17), Fatima (14) are now living in their new Habitat home in the department of Chimaltenango.  Fredy works as a salesman and Doña Carmen works in the Municipality of Guatemala City.

Before partnering with Habitat Guatemala, the family rented a house for over 22 years. And after learning about our programs through a friend, they decided it was time to build something to call their own.

When asked about how they feel with their home, Carmencita responds: “We feel happy and grateful to God and Habitat for this opportunity,” Fredy adds: “We are content, we can do whatever we want here, even our dogs are happy and free. It is calmer and relaxing in here.”

As a family they share good quality time in the house, “during the day it is hard because everybody is going in and out the house, but at night we all share dinner together and chat,” says Fredy.

Unfortunately Carmen, has found out that she has cancer and she has recently gone through chemotherapy, but she feels positive because now she has a safe place to recover!

Doña Carmen and her daughter smile while they remember the week of construction with the volunteers: “It was a fun week, they worked with good will,” she adds “they were really strong too!

Fredy shares that the volunteers put a coin inside the concrete mix for good luck and their daughters still wonder where it would be.

Doña Carmen shares in tears a message for the volunteers: “May all of you receive a big hug and our sincere gratitude for your support.”

 

Silvia lives with her husband Edwin and their son Darwin (5) in a small community in Chimaltenango. Edwin works in the fields and Silvia takes good care of Darwin and the house chores.

Before receiving her smokeless stove, Silvia used to cook over an open flame, that made it uncomfortable for her.

Now, with her new stove she says: “The new stove has helped me a lot, it is safer. There is no more smoke inside,” she continues, “and most important, it saves wood and gives me enough time to cook all my meals at the same time.”

Silvia still remembers the day that the volunteers came to build her stove, “It was a fun day! They were really nice” she continues, “Thank you for your support, I encourage you to keep on helping all the families in need.”

Melvin, Edith and their two children, Daniela (8) and David (4)   are living in their new Habitat house in the department of Quetzaltenango. Before partnering with Habitat Guatemala,  Melvin, who works as a mechanic and his family lived in a small room with his mother for ten years.

They learned about Habitat Guatemala at a local hardware store that promotes our work. After thinking about it a lot, they decided it was a great opportunity to finally have a house of their own. «Now we have much more space to play with my children, and they enjoy it a lot,» explains Edith.

The de León family  is planning to add a second storage and a garden to their house in their future, «I feel really happy, cause now we know this house is ours.» refers Edith.

Edith treasures all the good times they spent with the volunteers, «I am really grateful for their support and friendship, they shared memories with my children in a very special way.»

Oscar, Maria and their 3 children (ages 16, 14 and 9) live just outside the town of La Esperanza. Oscar is a builder, constructing houses and Maria is a homemaker.

Before moving to their Habitat home, the family lived in a small home nearby. Maria had heard about Habitat from several others in her community who’d also built their homes through the organization. She personally went to the office to find out more and start the process to build a new home for their family. From the time the paperwork was completed to the first day of building was just 2 months.

When asked, how she feels to be in her own home, Maria responds, “More than anything it’s nice to be outside of the city, here, we have our privacy and there’s a lot less noise.” Just outside the house, there is farmland, a view of the mountains, and a small garden Maria tends each day. “We’re more comfortable, each one of the children have their own rooms, it’s really a nice feeling.”

f the volunteers, she remembers how much they worked, how quickly they put up the walls, and that they were very friendly.” For the group of volunteers, Maria had this message, “We’re very grateful—thank you to you all for your help – may God bless you for the time that you came to work with us”

Regarding future plans for the home, “yes” she says with a smile on her face, in the future, “we’d like to expand the kitchen so we can fit the whole family!”