Doña María lives with her husband Alejandro and their children: Ramiro (23), Isaías (23) and Juana (10) in a small community in the outskirts of Lake Atitlán, Sololá. Doña María takes care of the home, while Alejandro works in the fields.

Before receiving a Smokeless Stove, María cooked for 12 years over an open flame stove that she built herself. It caused her and her family different respiratory diseases and red eyes because of the smoke.

María feels really happy and content with her stove, she says: “It is working really well, I only use two pieces of wood to light it and cook,” she continues, “the smoke is no longer inside, and I have enough space to cook all my meals.”

When asked about the day of construction, María refers: “I felt happy when all the volunteers came and built it really fast,” she continues, “Maltiox! (thank you) for your support in building my stove, may God bless you.”

 

Eber, his wife Lilian and her daughter are now living in their new Habitat home in Nuevo San Carlos, Retalhuleu. Lilian is studying to be a teacher, Eber has different part jobs and is a Red Cross volunteer.

Before partnering with Habitat Guatemala they were living with Eber parents, “My parents have been really nice and gave us a space to live meanwhile our house was finished” says Eber. And after finding out about our programs, they decided it was time to build their own house!

“It was a dream for us as a family to have our own home.”  Lilian adds, “we have been married for four years now.”

When Eber and Lilian start talking about how they feel with their new home, their joy is obvious. “We feel content!   we have our own place now, it is a big satisfaction for us,” Eber continues, “It was a dream for us as a family to have our own home. Thanks to Habitat it is a reality now.”

The family is planning to add a big garden in the front yard, “each member of my family is going to give us three plants, trees and flowers, so we can have different types.” Says Lilian.

The family remembers every volunteers name! and treasure all the moments they spent together during the week of construction. “They were really nice and hard workers, it was a great week!” says Lilian, Eber adds, “feel welcome to our home whenever you want to come again.”

Approaching Manuela’s house, you are greeted by steps that cover a steep incline. Manuela, a homemaker and her husband, Wilson, a national police officer, live here with their two daughters—Alejandra (6) and Emily (2). Manuela’s sister-in-law had also built a home through Habitat, and when the timing was right for the family, they decided to build too. During the building, they moved into the home of Wilson’s parents.  When asked how it feels to have a home of her own, Manuela responded, “its a great emotion, I live in my own home, I feel more comfortable. I’m not in another’s house and it’s not loaned.” “Here,” she continues, “We have animals.” The family has a few chickens and plan to purchase more. She says that in this house, “we enjoy our time, our daughters can be outside and pass their time playing.”

When asked about the volunteers who helped them construct their house, Manuela beamed. “They helped us a lot with the burden of the blocks. It took 1800 blocks (to build the house) and each trip, they worked to unload 300 blocks and carry them up to the house. It was a great advantage having them here and it made the work move a lot more quickly. It as a precious experience to have them here. The experience included my older daughter, Alejandra who often asks, “when are they coming again?”” she says and laughs, “we have the photos that they gave us.”

Encarnación lives with her husband Gabino, their six children and their families in a small community in Chimaltenango. While Ezequiel works in agriculture, Encarnación takes care of their big family and weaves traditional clothes.

Before partnering with Habitat Guatemala to receive her smokeless stove, María used to cook on an open flame, causing her to have irritation in her eyes and respiratory diseases due to the smoke.

Doña Encarnación explains how she feels with the new stove: “I feel happy with it, we like it” She continues; “and the good part is that it does not need a lot of wood.”

She finishes by sharing a message to the volunteers: “Thank you all for your support in building our stove.”