The María Elene López Family

On the side of a hill, next to a peaceful river where the children like to splash each other, there’s a brand new house that a deserving family calls home.

24-year-old María Elene decided to contact Habitat for Humanity Guatemala after years of sharing a room with her 4-year-old son David and her 6-year-old daughter Emelin Danisa. They were living in María Elene’s mother’s house, where they were “too together,” according to María Elene.

She says she didn’t have any major problems in her mom’s house, but she “wanted to give a better future to my kids,” she says.

In her new place, there’s three rooms in a row, and they are well-kept and free from clutter. The young mother of two is still in the process of decorating and furnishing, but she has already turned the house into her home. Her bedroom is quite comfortable and well-kept, and she has bought another bed to give everyone their own room in the near future.

“It feels good,” she says. “We have more space here.”

She also wanted to share her appreciation for the volunteers that came to give her a hand. “I appreciate the support you offered us. I just wanted to let you know that you are always in our hearts, and thank you for the help.”

She also wanted pass along that her nephew, the hard-working Luis, is doing well and asks about the volunteers from time to time.

As she goes forward with fixing up the house, she plans on coating the interior and exterior walls with plaster and painting them. But for now, she’s quite happy with the comfortable new place on the hillside that she calls home.