Micael Bixcul lives in a village in Sololá, with her three children.  Her sons are twenty-two and twenty, and her daughter is seventeen. Before building their home by partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, they had lived with Micael’s parents for fifteen years. The family owns a bakery where she and her sons work while her daughter works for a business in a nearby town.

Micael’s brother learned about the low-interest loan that Habitat Guatemala offers and shared the information with his sister. “When I learned that I might qualify for a loan with Habitat, I decided to apply. I was approved fifteen days later and the process to build our house began,” says Micael. Just forty-five days after building began, her home was completed.

Micael built her home on land that her parents gave her. In Guatemala, it’s common for parents to divide up their land for their children, and many people raise their own families on this land.

Since moving into their new home, her family’s life has changed for the better, Micael shares. “We have more privacy now, more space,” she explains. “My sons have their own room and my daughter and I have our own room. We enjoy exploring the area around our home and my sons use the yard to play soccer.”

She has plans to keep improving her house, too. A false ceiling, a wall around their property, and a covered patio are the first projects Micael would like to complete.

When Micael talks about the volunteers who spent a week working on her home, she remembers that they assisted by transporting the materials to the building site–her house is set back from the road–and she has a message to share, too. “The volunteers were wonderful! We are very happy and will always appreciate their support.”

The Otoniel family lives a town in Sololá, Guatemala. Luis is married to Virginia, and they have a son, Julio. Luis and Virgina both work full-time (he as a salesman; she as a teacher) so Luis’s mother, Manuela Christina takes care of Julio.

The family learned about Habitat for Humanity Guatemala from a community volunteer and decided to build a new home to have a more spacious and safe space for their family. They were able to build their new home on the same piece of land as their older home, making the entire process much easier.

Now that they are settled, they feel safe and happy in their new space. They are appreciative of the volunteers who came and supported them in their journey to building a new home. “Thank you for the work you did here!” says Manuela Christina.

Margarita Tuy Tuy

Margarita Tuy Tuy and her husband live with their three children in a community in Sololá. Her husband works as an assistant to a local mason and Margarita weaves and sells her work.

Before building their smokeless stove, she cooked on the floor, which caused the children to occasionally burn their fingers. Additionally, the smoke from the fire filled the kitchen, making the family uncomfortable and harming their health.

Because of the design of the new stove, these issues have been remedied. Additionally, the family now uses significantly less wood than before. Margarita, shown here with her youngest daughter, Reina, has these words to share.

“Thanks to each of you who came. Our family has experienced a positive change in our lives, thanks to you! I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude.”

Sandra Quisquin Guit

Sandra Quisquin Guit also lives in Aldea Xibalbay with her parents, siblings, sister-in-law, and two nephews. She and her family all work in agriculture.

While Cristina was unable to be at home when the volunteers came, she was happy to talk about how the stove has impacted her family’s life and to share anecdotes her mother told her about the volunteers. She laughs as she shares that several of the volunteers were too tall to stand up straight in the kitchen and had to stoop as they built the stove.

Like all families who build Habitat for Humanity Guatemala smokeless stoves, Cristina and her family now have a space to cook and eat free of smoke and they use half of the amount of wood.

In her family’s case specifically, the new stove is also much smaller than their old stove so the family has space to eat in the kitchen. They also chose to personalize their stove with tile, as Cristina says: “We are very happy with our new stove! We bought tile to decorate it and make it pretty and we love the additional space in our kitchen.”

 

Maria Carolina 

Maria Carolina and her family live near Tecpán in the department of Chimaltenango. She, her husband Martin, and seven of their children live in a sunny house on a quiet dirt road. They own a piece of land that Martin farms, and the children attend school. Maria spends her time weaving and taking care of the home and children–her youngest baby is 11 months old.

Like many rural Guatemalan families, Maria’s family gathers their own wood for cooking. She notes that since their new smokeless stove was finished in June 2017, they only have to gather about half of the amount of wood they did before. She shares that the old stove was 15 years old, had some broken parts, and emitted a great deal of smoke. There was also less space to prepare food and she and her family were at a higher risk of getting burned.

This isn’t an issue with the new smokeless stove: it has a safe area for preparing food, such as the tortillas and tamales that are staple food items. She also uses the stove to cook for her community, such as making beans for her children’s´school.

Maria and her family loved having the volunteers visit them and assist them in building the stove. She remembers that her kids loved playing with them and she sends them a hello from Guatemala!

Aurora Sajic Xon

Aurora Sajic Xon, her husband Optico, and their seven children live in the same area as Maria Carolina Carlel: in a village called Caserio Xetonox, located outside the city of Tecpan in the department of Chimaltenango. Like many Guatemalans, Aurora speaks primarily Kaqchikel, an indigenous language spoken by approximately 5.5% of people in Guatemala. Her relative, Marisol, serves as a translator for Aurora, as she shares how having a smokeless stove has improved the daily life of her family.

Before building the smokeless stove with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala in June 2017, Aurora prepared food for her family on the floor of her home. The smoke from the fire would fill the house with smoke, making it difficult for her young children to breathe. Now, she has a safe space to prepare food and doesn’t have to worry about her children getting burned. Another benefit of the new stove is that it uses much less wood, a scarce resource for Guatemalans.

Aurora fondly remembers the HHK School Group volunteers that worked with her family and sends her thanks from Guatemala!