Healthy Home Kit: Basilia Mucun

“My old stove was extremely small and it was a challenge to cook on.”, begins Basilia Mucun. “My new stove is a good stove and it saves wood!”

Basilia and her husband live with their two children in a community in the department of Chimaltenango. Because they live in an urban area, they purchase the wood they use to cook and heat their home. Habitat Guatemala smokeless stoves are designed to use significantly less wood than most stoves families have access to, which saves money, time, and resources.

Basilia and her family partnered with Habitat Guatemala to obtain a complete Healthy Home Kit, which, in addition to a smokeless stove, consists of a water filter and sanitary latrine. In Guatemala, 95% of the water is contaminated. The only way for people to access clean water is to either boil or filter it. With wood being scarce and expensive, it is difficult for families to boil all the water they use in a day, which leads to many people using contaminated water.

Through the education provided by Habitat Guatemala, Basilia has learned how to maintain her filter so that it will last for the next two years, providing her family with clean water and preventing waterborne illnesses.

Outside Basilia’s house is her new latrine. “My old latrine was fifteen years old.”, says Basilia. “Our new latrine is much better and we are very happy with it!” As part of partnering with Habitat Guatemala, Basilia’s family dug the latrine pit before the volunteers arrived to assist in the construction of the latrine. Now, the Mucun family has a clean, sanitary, and dry latrine to use.

Basilia concludes with a message to the volunteers: “”I am so thankful to God and the volunteers who supported me by assembling my new stove and latrine!”