The Teresa Maria Saquic Family

It’s no easy thing having a landlord.

For Teresa, it was especially tough. “We would get woken up at 5 or 6 in the morning, somebody tapping at the door,” she says. The landlord didn’t respect the family’s privacy, and the neighbors didn’t either.

It didn’t make things any easier that the home was made of adobe, an inadequate building material made from dirt and calcium.

“I was always afraid the house would fall in an earthquake,” says Teresa. And back in the strong 2012 earthquake, the home was left with cracks up and down its crumbling walls.

With two children married and out of the house and two children still living under her roof, things needed to change. Teresa bought a plot of land not far away, and partnered with Habitat Guatemala to build her new house there.

“Thanks for having come,” she says to the volunteers who came to help build her house, “and having helped build my house. I’m thankful for the foundation [Habitat Guatemala] and for all the volunteers, that God has let my house be built!” She talks with a big smile. She’s a proud homeowner.

“I’m happy,” she says. “And I’m no longer worried about sleeping at night.” She also says that cooking in her new place is much more pleasant. “Here, we are on the edge of the road, we can see all the people go by. Before, we were removed, out in the country.”

Teresa is also thinking about the future. She says she’s happy that she’ll have something to give to her 14- and 17-year-old kids when they are older. Currently, her two married children are building a house on the same plot of land behind Teresa’s. Like her’s, it’s a cozy place with a nice view. Teresa is proud to be able to keep her family together.