The Camey Family

“Three houses in our neighborhood were destroyed in an earthquake several years ago. Our old house was made of adobe so we were worried that we would not be safe in an earthquake.”, says Jesus Rolando as he begins to explain why his family chose to build a house with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala.

There are five people in the Camey household, located near the municipality of Sololá: Jesus and Lidia, their two daughters, Karina and Sindy, and Karina’s son, five-year-old Angel. Karina works in the office of the judge in Santiago de Atitlán, another town in the region, and splits her time between there and her home. Her sister Sindy works in another region of Guatemala and comes home less often. Jesus, who is retired from the city government, and Lidia take care of Angel while his Karina is at work.

Jesus continues: “We feel very safe here. We had the house blessed by a priest. Now we have more space and everyone can decide what they want to do with their homes and how they want to arrange their furniture. And my daughter can have friends visit! We have plans for the house too. We would like to paint it, finish the bathroom, and add rain gutters .”

“It was a lovely experience to have the volunteers here.”, concludes Jesus. “We enjoyed sharing our culture with them and they were very open. It is very admirable that they came here without being paid–they volunteered! They taught us a lot; they came from far away to help others. We loved being able to spend time with them and share meals and snacks.”