Ingrid Lorena

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“Thanks to you, our dream is a reality!” So says Ingrid Lorena  to the group of Thrivent volunteers who came to work with her family to build her family’s home in Quetzaltenango.

Ingrid is a stay-at-home mom and her husband, Adolfo, is a baker at a Quetzaltenango bakery. They decided to apply to build a home with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala because they had recently gotten married and had a baby daughter, Victoria. It was important to them that they have their own space as a family.

Ingrid was familiar with Habitat for Humanity because her mother built a Habitat house several years ago and she was excited that she and Manolo were approved to build a house. Ingrid says that, for the most part, the process was smooth. About halfway through the process, they switched from working with one mason to another, but fortunately soon after that a group of Thrivent volunteers came and spent a week working on the house and helped push the process forward.

Soon after moving into their home in November, Ingrid’s brother Manolo moved into the house with her wife Jennifer and their daughter Adonia. Now, the two families share the home together–the babies have their own room and there is plenty of room to relax, cook, and eat. Most of all, Ingrid is happy and grateful that her family has their own home and their own space as a family.

Smokeless Stoves: Maria Carolina Carlel and Aurora Sajic Xon

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Maria Carolina 

Maria Carolina and her family live near Tecpán in the department of Chimaltenango. She, her husband Martin, and seven of their children live in a sunny house on a quiet dirt road. They own a piece of land that Martin farms, and the children attend school. Maria spends her time weaving and taking care of the home and children–her youngest baby is 11 months old.

Like many rural Guatemalan families, Maria’s family gathers their own wood for cooking. She notes that since their new smokeless stove was finished in June 2017, they only have to gather about half of the amount of wood they did before. She shares that the old stove was 15 years old, had some broken parts, and emitted a great deal of smoke. There was also less space to prepare food and she and her family were at a higher risk of getting burned.

This isn’t an issue with the new smokeless stove: it has a safe area for preparing food, such as the tortillas and tamales that are staple food items. She also uses the stove to cook for her community, such as making beans for her children’s´school.

Maria and her family loved having the volunteers visit them and assist them in building the stove. She remembers that her kids loved playing with them and she sends them a hello from Guatemala!

Aurora Sajic Xon

Aurora Sajic Xon, her husband Optico, and their seven children live in the same area as Maria Carolina Carlel: in a village called Caserio Xetonox, located outside the city of Tecpan in the department of Chimaltenango. Like many Guatemalans, Aurora speaks primarily Kaqchikel, an indigenous language spoken by approximately 5.5% of people in Guatemala. Her relative, Marisol, serves as a translator for Aurora, as she shares how having a smokeless stove has improved the daily life of her family.

Before building the smokeless stove with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala in June 2017, Aurora prepared food for her family on the floor of her home. The smoke from the fire would fill the house with smoke, making it difficult for her young children to breathe. Now, she has a safe space to prepare food and doesn’t have to worry about her children getting burned. Another benefit of the new stove is that it uses much less wood, a scarce resource for Guatemalans.

Aurora fondly remembers the HHK School Group volunteers that worked with her family and sends her thanks from Guatemala!

Brenda Lidia Hi Sipac

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Brenda Lidia  is a single mother of an eight year old daughter, Yorleni. They live in Tecpan, a town in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, where she works cleaning houses while Yorleni attends school. They moved into their new home in June, built on land given to her by her mother,  and are happy and grateful to have their own space.

Before partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, Brenda and Yorleni lived in a house with her mother and other relatives. There were many people living in the house and it wasn’t an ideal situation. Brenda’s mother had to sell her home and now is renting, but Brenda worried that one day she and her daughter would be forced to leave the house, so when she learned about Habitat for Humanity from her employer, she decided to move forward in building her own home.

Brenda shares that the process of building her home was difficult, but that she is glad she made it happen. After working all day, she would work on building her home. For her, the most difficult part of the process was transporting the materials to the land, but partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala gave her support throughout the whole process. Though the construction of the house is complete, Brenda has plans to build a covered patio space outside the house and is in the process of finalizing a little kitchen space that will be attached to the house. Because it is her own house, she is truly able to make it her home.

In addition to her job cleaning houses, Brenda spends time on Sunday weaving traditional Guatemalan clothing which she sells at the market. Now that she has her own home, she has a quiet space to create and focus on her craft. Yorleni is also excited about learning how to weave and Brenda is happy to share her skills with her daughter.

Brenda and Yorleni loved having volunteers from Habitat for Humanity Canada come and work with them. She emphasizes that she knows the volunteers came a long way to work on her home and she appreciates the effort they made. She would like to thank them for the time they spent in Guatemala with her and Yorleni.

The Caldeo Family

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Dalilia Escobar´s Quetzaltenango home is painted a beautiful blue that matches her happiness and that of her children. She and her family moved into their new home in November, in time to celebrate Christmas, and they are happy to be settled and stable.

Dalilia’s home is located on the same property as her parents´ house, which was also built through partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala twenty-two years ago. By building her house on the same piece of land, the family members are able to see each other easily. Dalia, a stay-at-home mother, is also the primary caregiver for her 97 year old father, so being right next door gives her the space and privacy she needs while also being able to attend to him.Six people total live in the house and while not all of them were home, those that were spoke enthusiastically about the volunteers that spent eight days helping them build their home. Dalia appreciates that the volunteers traveled from so far away to help her family, and she enjoyed chatting with them and sharing time with them.

Anayanci, Dalia’s daughter who loves cooking and would like to be a chef one day, spent the most time with the Thrivent volunteers and has a message she would like to share: “Thanks to you, our house was finished a little bit faster, and it didn’t take as long because you came help. Many thanks for giving us your support!”

 

Opportunities

National Office

Avenida Las Américas, 9-50, zona 3,
Edificio Supercom Delco, 3er. nivel, Oficina 3,
Quetzaltenango, Quetzaltenango.
+502 7931-3131
donor@habitaguate.org

Global Village Office

Carretera a San Bartolomé Becerra casa #6,
Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez.
+502 7832-4436 / +502 7832-4572
guategv@habitaguate.org

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