“My new stove works so well–it cooks my tortillas fast and they turn out well!”, Carolina Simalaj explains. “My old stove burned food, used much more wood, and created a lot of smoke. The smoke bothered my eyes while I was cooking.”

Carolina lives with her husband Isaias and their three sons: 5 year old Peter, 3 year old Christian, and 1 year old Ivan in Sololá. They are Healthy Home Kit beneficiaries and in addition to a new smokeless stove, they also now have a sanitary latrine and a water filter.

The family is also very happy to have a water filter. 95% of water in Guatemala is contaminated which leads to a variety of parasites and illnesses. “Before we had a water filter our stomachs hurt often,” Carolina says. With a water filter, this is no longer an issue and Carolina is happy that her boys no longer have to experience stomach pain as a result of drinking contaminated water.

“The new latrine is much more comfortable; it’s clean and healthy.”, continues Carolina. The old latrine, shown below, was made of sugar cane stalk and various cloth materials. Now, the family has a stable structure made from wood and metal that provides protection from the elements. This is especially important during Guatemala’s rainy season, during which it rains heavily for several hours a day.

Carolina also wants to thank the volunteers who supported her family by volunteering to build the latrine and stove. “Thank you for your support!” she concludes.

The Soto family live in the outskirts of Antigua. Angelica is a nurse and her husband, Ruben, owns a bakery. Their three children are 19, 13, and 12 and are in school. Before building their home with Habitat Guatemala, they rented  in the local area. “We decided to build our own home because we were renting and not investing in our own family.”, Angelica says. “I inherited the land from my father and we were able to use that to build our house. Our rent was higher than our monthly mortgage so now we are able to save more every month as well. I’m so happy to be in my own home!”

Ingrid and Elma Muxtay are sisters from Chimaltenango. After Ingrid’s husband passed away and Elma’s husband left the family, the two sisters were placed in the position of each raising their two children without a partner. Ingrid has two daughters: Lesli and Lidia. Elma is the mother of two little boys, Luis and Mynor. Because they wanted to make sure their children would have stable homes as they grew up, Ingrid and Elma built homes with the support of Habitat Guatemala.

Though they are single mothers, Ingrid and Elma are not completely alone. They have each other, their parents, and Habitat Guatemala. Their parents, Francisco and Teresa, have stepped into the role of caregivers for their grandchildren, allowing Ingrid and Elma to work in Guatemala City. With the money they earn, they are able to make monthly payments on the houses each sister built for her family. Francisco explains Ingrid’s story: “After her husband passed away, Ingrid found work in the capital to provide for her family. She wanted to build a home for her daughters so that they would have a home in the future. I gave her the land to build the house on. The girls are little so they stay in our home while their mother works, and when she visits every fifteen days the girls stay with her in their home.”

As she sits in her home, Lesli shares that her favorite room is the bedroom. “I miss my mom, but I love it when she comes home and we stay here together.” Lesli and Lidia are excited today: Lidia is turning seven the tomorrow and her mother is coming home a day early to celebrate the big day. The sister’s houses are a only short walk apart. Standing outside Elma’s house, Francisco and Teresa explains her situation: “The never comes to see them anymore,” he says. “And neither do their grandparents.” Teresa chimes in: “There is nothing we can do about that: it is the way it is,” she says. Francisco continues: “So Elma found work with her sister and also comes home every fifteen days to see Luis and Mynor.” The love and care that Francisco and Teresa have for their grandchildren is evident. As they talk, they occasionally pause to talk to their children in Kaqchikel–while Lesli and Lidia are in school and have started to learn Spanish, the younger children do not speak Spanish yet. This is common in Chimaltenango; while more and more indigenous people are learning Spanish, the older generation values their culture and strives to pass their mother tongue down the younger generations.

As the family leaves Elma’s home, her sons pause to make sure both the windows and doors are locked. While right now they only stay in it every two weeks, it is their home and they already love and value it.

Lucia Virginia lives with her husband, Gerson, their young son, Gerson Gael, and her sister-in-law in Sololá. Prior to building their home, the family rented a house in the town of Panajachel, about half an hour away. Lucia works in Panajachel in the mornings as an office assistant and her husband is a boat driver. They bought the land about five years ago because they knew they eventually wanted to have their own home in the area; the rest of Lucia’s family moved to Guatemala City, but she decided to stay to be near her grandfather.

“We are so happy to have our own home,” Lucia expresses. “Before, we all shared two rooms–now we have four! We are planning on painting the house a melon color and in the future would like to build an addition, too.”

“It was so nice to have the volunteers here,” she continued. “Everyone was so happy to work and had so much energy! I’m so thankful for the good work that they did and ask God to bless them.”