Healthy Home Kit: Aracely Pérez
Seferino lives with his wife Aracely and their eight children: Astrid (16), Gerson (14), Heydi (11), Fatima (10), Karla (9), Jorge (6), Jayro (4) and baby Melanie (1), in a small community in Sololá. While Seferino works in agriculture, Aracely owns a tortilla shop, leaving Astrid, their eldest daughter, to help take care of the younger children.
As part of our Healthy Home Kit, families receive a smokeless stove, a sanitary latrine and a water filter, these products help them improve their health by giving them adequate access to proper sanitation, potable water and a smoke-free environment.
Seferino shares how implementing a smokeless stove has improved aspects of their family’s daily life: “My wife used to cook on an old stove for more than ten years that consumed a lot of wood and was old too,” he continues; “ We can see the difference now, because there is no more smoke inside our kitchen, and we no longer use a lot wood, just a few pieces.”
When asked how they feel with their new stove, he answers, “We feel very content! The old stove was very tall, the new one is a little shorter, so we sit around it, it keeps us warm and it has enough space to cook all our meals at the same time.”
We also visited Aracely in her tortilla shop and asked how she feels with their products: “I feel happy! it was of big help for my family to receive the products.”
Previously, Seferino and his family had an old latrine that was in poor conditions. “Our new latrine is better, my children can use it without any problems.”
Regarding their water filter, Seferino explains that they used to drink water directly from the sink and save it in pots, but it became more contaminated. “Sometimes we boiled the water, yes our children used to get diarrhea but we used to give them different traditional medicines to make them feel better, he continues “now our health has improved a lot, our children are no longer sick, all of them take their water bottles to school.”
He finishes by sharing memories about the day of construction and with a message to the volunteers; “It was a very fun day, they came with joy and played with my children!” he continues, “May God bless you all and your families, we are grateful for your support. We always get really happy when we receive visits here!” Aracely adds: “Thank you all, may your lives be filled with blessings.”
