Meet our families – Page 53 – Hábitat para la Humanidad Guatemala

The Otoniel Family

14 February, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

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.

The Bocel Family

13 February, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

Ramona and José Meletz live in a village in rural Sololá. She and her husband support their ten children by making and selling crafts; José weaves and Ramona makes jewelry.

Before building their new smokeless stove, the Bocel Meletz family used an old stove made of adobe blocks. The main issues with the old stove was that it filled the kitchen area with smoke and that it was very easy for the children to burn themselves on the stove. The family members had continual problems with throat irritation and pneumonia. Ramona and José´s daughter, now twenty-three years old, also suffered a serious burn when she was younger but fortunately was able to recover.

Fortunately, the new stove has remedied some of these issues and has created a kitchen space free of smoke for the family to cook.

The family remembered the volunteers fondly–they said that everyone worked hard, both the men and the women. They noted that the volunteers knew how to work as a team, a part of their culture they appreciated. José especially remembers one of the volunteers who is studying to be a teacher and how she taught the children songs they still remember.

José has these words to share with the group: “First of all, thank you and may God bless you greatly. You are part of our family and community and we send our greetings!”

Smokeless Stoves: Margarita Tuy Tuy and Sandra Quisquin Guit

12 February, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

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.”

Ingrid Lorena

29 January, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

“Thanks to you, our dream is a reality!” So says Ingrid Lorena to the group of Thrivent volunteers who came to work with her family to build her family’s home in Quetzaltenango.

Ingrid is a stay-at-home mom and her husband, Adolfo, is a baker at a Quetzaltenango bakery. They decided to apply to build a home with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala because they had recently gotten married and had a baby daughter, Victoria. It was important to them that they have their own space as a family.

Ingrid was familiar with Habitat for Humanity because her mother built a Habitat house several years ago and she was excited that she and Manolo were approved to build a house. Ingrid says that, for the most part, the process was smooth. About halfway through the process, they switched from working with one mason to another, but fortunately soon after that a group of Thrivent volunteers came and spent a week working on the house and helped push the process forward.

Soon after moving into their home in November, Ingrid’s brother Manolo moved into the house with her wife Jennifer and their daughter Adonia. Now, the two families share the home together–the babies have their own room and there is plenty of room to relax, cook, and eat. Most of all, Ingrid is happy and grateful that her family has their own home and their own space as a family.

Smokeless Stoves: Maria Carolina Carlel and Aurora Sajic Xon

19 January, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

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!

Brenda Lidia Hi Sipac

18 January, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

Brenda Lidia is a single mother of an eight year old daughter, Yorleni. They live in Tecpan, a town in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, where she works cleaning houses while Yorleni attends school. They moved into their new home in June, built on land given to her by her mother, and are happy and grateful to have their own space.

Before partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, Brenda and Yorleni lived in a house with her mother and other relatives. There were many people living in the house and it wasn’t an ideal situation. Brenda’s mother had to sell her home and now is renting, but Brenda worried that one day she and her daughter would be forced to leave the house, so when she learned about Habitat for Humanity from her employer, she decided to move forward in building her own home.

Brenda shares that the process of building her home was difficult, but that she is glad she made it happen. After working all day, she would work on building her home. For her, the most difficult part of the process was transporting the materials to the land, but partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala gave her support throughout the whole process. Though the construction of the house is complete, Brenda has plans to build a covered patio space outside the house and is in the process of finalizing a little kitchen space that will be attached to the house. Because it is her own house, she is truly able to make it her home.

In addition to her job cleaning houses, Brenda spends time on Sunday weaving traditional Guatemalan clothing which she sells at the market. Now that she has her own home, she has a quiet space to create and focus on her craft. Yorleni is also excited about learning how to weave and Brenda is happy to share her skills with her daughter.

Brenda and Yorleni loved having volunteers from Habitat for Humanity Canada come and work with them. She emphasizes that she knows the volunteers came a long way to work on her home and she appreciates the effort they made. She would like to thank them for the time they spent in Guatemala with her and Yorleni.

The Caldeo Family

18 January, 2018/in Meet our families, News /by admin

Dalilia Escobar´s Quetzaltenango home is painted a beautiful blue that matches her happiness and that of her children. She and her family moved into their new home in November, in time to celebrate Christmas, and they are happy to be settled and stable.

Dalilia’s home is located on the same property as her parents´ house, which was also built through partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala twenty-two years ago. By building her house on the same piece of land, the family members are able to see each other easily. Dalia, a stay-at-home mother, is also the primary caregiver for her 97 year old father, so being right next door gives her the space and privacy she needs while also being able to attend to him.Six people total live in the house and while not all of them were home, those that were spoke enthusiastically about the volunteers that spent eight days helping them build their home. Dalia appreciates that the volunteers traveled from so far away to help her family, and she enjoyed chatting with them and sharing time with them.

Anayanci, Dalia’s daughter who loves cooking and would like to be a chef one day, spent the most time with the Thrivent volunteers and has a message she would like to share: “Thanks to you, our house was finished a little bit faster, and it didn’t take as long because you came help. Many thanks for giving us your support!”

The Morales Family

11 October, 2017/in Meet our families, News /by admin

The first sound heard when entering Nelson and Dulia Morales’s home is cheering. In their bedroom, the local soccer game is airing on television. After scoring a quick goal, their favored team is in the lead. “It’s nice to be here, and we’re two people, without any worries,” remarks Nelson. “We can invite people over to watch the soccer game and because there is more space, we can cheer for our team as loud as we want!”

Nelson and Dulia have only lived in their Habitat for Humanity Guatemala home for a few weeks, but they have come to experience a fresh new form of freedom. Before building their home, the couple lived with Nelson’s parents for two years. However, the house had problems. “It was older,” recalls Nelson. “There were leaks coming through the roof, which caused problems.”

“It’s necessary to be independent,” adds Dulia. “We didn’t want to rely on in-laws for everything.”

Soon, the two of them began to consult moving options. However, because both Nelson and Dulia are teachers, they were worried about the costs of housing. Luckily, Nelson’s parents suggested Habitat for Humanity Guatemala for its economic flexibility. “We liked how with Habitat, you pay monthly over a long term period of time,” says Nelson. “So we went for more information at the local affiliate and decided to go for it. We wouldn’t have had our new house without Habitat Guatemala, and we’re finally starting a new dream, a new life.”

For three and a half months, the couple worked on the construction of their new home. Each day, after they finished up teaching at the local school, they were present for the building. For one week, a group of international volunteers took part. Nelson and Dulia’s faces light up when they are mentioned. “The group of volunteers came in May,” remembers Dulia. “They were friendly and collaborative. For ten days, they helped us advance on our house. We had contests to see who could build more rebar, and they won.” They laugh.

Both Nelson and Dulia are grateful for the volunteers’ hard work. “The people who came here, they are blessed with all of our hearts. Everything was pleasant and wonderful, they are also in the hearts of my family. I am grateful for the entire team. They entered so graciously, and for that, may God bless them. Wherever they may be, they will also receive our support. If you come back, we will be waiting for you.”

Their new house has been nothing short of a great improvement, and Nelson and Dulia are eager to create new memories. Dulia enjoys that there is more space and that their house is becoming one to call their own. “We plan to paint, to continue with small progressions,” she notes. “We don’t have kids yet, but they’ll be here soon!”