Blanca lives with her husband Clemente, and seven of their children; Luisa (27),  Patrocinia (22), Samuel (19), Jeremías (17), Santiago (12), Francisco (10) and Noé (1) and their granddaughter Aurora (3) in a small community in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. While José works in agriculture, María is a home maker.

She explains how partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala to implement a smokeless stove has improved aspects of her family’s daily life: “I used to cook on a stove that was 12 years old, it had cracks in it causing the smoke to be all around my kitchen.” she continues, “I feel happy with the new one! It is working fine.”

Blanca explains that with her new stove she has enough space to cook all their meals at the same time, allowing them to save wood too!

She wants to send a message to the volunteers; “May God bless you for your support, Thank you!”

Dolores lives with his wife Imelda, and their five children,  William, Maritza,  Karina, Doris and Ariel in their new Habitat home in a small town in Chimaltenango.  Dolores works in agriculture and Imelda is a home maker, Karina is working in Guatemala city and travels each month to visit her family, William has recently came back from Canada, where he worked for a year.

Before partnering with Habitat Guatemala the family used to live in an old house that was built with adobe blocks, their family of seven were living in just two rooms. Their prime motivation to build a new home was for everybody to have their own space, “My son William, was the one that started doing research and decided to build a house,” says Dolores. He explains that after learning about Habitat and speaking about it with the entire family, they finally decided to invest in a home for a bigger space for everybody!

When asked how they feel with their new home, they all smile, and respond,  ”We feel happy, content and grateful to God and Habitat. It is really pretty!”

As a family, they enjoy spending time together; and when Karina comes to visit, they have lunch and chat about their activities.  “The house feels fresh, there is not too much heat or cold inside, we all enjoy that,” says Dolores. They are planning to add a garden in the front yard, also to paint the walls in the future.

When asked about the week of construction with the volunteers, they answer: “All of them came to work really hard, they helped us build the house faster,” he continues, “they shared all their joy with us, and it was a good experience.”

“We are very grateful for all their support, we still remember every volunteer that came that week.”

Maribel lives with her husband, Francisco and their three children; Katherine (21) Amy (17) and Francisco (9) in their new Habitat home in Sacatepéquez. Francisco is a teacher and Maribel works as an independent seller.

The family rented a house for more than 20 years along with Francisco’s father and brothers. Their primary motivation to build a new home was to have a stable place to live, something to call their own. “We needed our own space, it was about time,” says Maribel.

Maribel explains that after learning about Habitat through a relative and convincing Francisco for a long time with Katherine, they finally decided to stop paying rent and investing in making their dream a reality!

“The construction of our house was really hard! We had to work really hard and carry all the materials, because someone started fixing the road outside our land so the trucks were not able to pass and deliver them.  We received the help of several neighbors and family members too, to finally make it happen!” says Maribel.

When asked about how she feels with her new home, Maribel exclaims, ”I feel happy, anxious to let anyone know! It was a beautiful experience to be a part of the construction. I was the one in charge of helping the masons and carrying the materials. That is why I enjoy my house so much!”

The family is planning to add another room and a fence around the house in the future!  “We enjoy our time together as a family, we share lunch and chat about our days. As a family we have more communication among us, there is more harmony too,” explains Maribel about how their lives have changed in their new home.

When asked about the week of construction with the volunteers, Maribel laughs and shares some memories that they spent together, “It was a great experience! The volunteers were hard workers and fun, it was a good environment.”

Maribel finishes with a message to the volunteers; “thank you very much for coming to help in the construction of our house.  We are very grateful to you all, thank you is not enough, compare to all your support.”

Ruthilia lives with her husband Mardoqueo and their children Edgar (22), Silvia (21), Gloria (18) and Orfa (15), in a small community in the outskirts of el Tejar, Chimaltenango. While Mardoqueo works in agriculture, Ruthilia is a homemaker and weaves traditional clothes too.

She explains how partnering with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala to implement a smokeless stove has improved aspects of her family’s daily life: “I used to cook over an open flame in the floor. My eyes were always hurting” she continues, “the new one is working perfectly, no more smoke!”

Ruthilia shares that the whole family feels content with the stove, and they have saved wood too because it is designed to consume less wood and heat evenly.

She finishes by sharing a message to the volunteers: “I am very grateful to Habitat and the volunteers for their support,” she continues, “we would not have been able to build this stove by our own means, may God bless you.”