Doña Blanca lives with her husband Cesar and their four children, Kimberly (13), Cesar (11), Luis (8) and Jennifer (6) in a small community in Chimaltenango. While Cesar works in the fields, Blanca takes care of the children and the house.

Before receiving her smokeless stove, Blanca used to cook over an open flame “pollo”. The smoke caused her to have red eyes and respiratory diseases.

When asked how she feels with her new stove, Blanca responds: “I feel happy with my stove! It is also our table, all the family gathers around to eat now and it is working great.”

Blanca and her family have good memories of the time shared with the volunteers, “We were really happy that day, they built our stove and had lunch with us,” she continues; “I am grateful to all of you for your support.”

Gricelda Anabella and her husband Klismus came across Habitat at the recommendation of a neighbor. Now they live in their own home with their two children, Gerardo Gabriel (6) and Dailey (4). Klismus is a security guard while Gricelda is a homemaker.

Gricelda and her family rented one-bedroom within another family’s home, where they lived together. When her neighbor mentioned Habitat, the family moved to live with her brother so they could save for a portion of land. With the help of Habitat, they have now built their own home.

 When asked, how she feels having her own house, Gricelda smiles and says, “We feel good, we feel happy to have our own space.” Gricelda even has room for her sewing machine, where she sews clothes including a dress and an apron. Having a home has definitely changed their lives, she says, “Especially for the kids, here, they’re laughing, running, screaming but in the other house, they couldn’t do the same.”

 About the volunteers, Gricelda proudly displays photos of the volunteers who came to construct her home in her living room, a reminder of the help they had along the way. Their goal is to add a second story one day. 

The first thing you will see when you enter into the yard of Ambrocio Hernández, and his wife Santa, are freely roaming chickens! Ambrocio, Santa, and their four children, Karen (15), Bryson (12), Denia (11) and Gerson (9), all live at a slower pace of life in the town of La Esperanza. 

When they first heard about Habitat, they were living in the city and paying a high monthly rent. The couple shared that they wanted ownership and to reduce their monthly expenses. After going through the process, both are now proud homeowners. Now they spend most of their free time at home. “There’s not a lot of noise and we always feel at peace. Before there was a lot of noise from the cars, here it is more beautiful, it is much calmer, and there’s enough water here, we like living here because we are much more at peace.”

Ambrocio is a salesperson and Santa, is a homemaker. When asked what they have planned for the house, they laughed and responded “more chickens!…”for eggs in the morning.” They also would like to plant flowers and a durazno (peach) tree in their front yard too.

All this is possible, because of the group that visited and helped the couple build their home in May of last year. “It’s a great memory because they helped us to build the house,” Ambrocio remembers; “During this week, I had a lot of work, but thanks to God for the volunteers who came from the United States to help, we are very happy because they helped us in a great way and helped us build the house much faster.”

“I’m so grateful for Habitat because when people really need a house, they’ve really made it possible for families,” says Ambrocio.

When you first meet Maria, one thing is obvious – she’s a proud mom and grandmother. She lives in just outside Quetzaltenango in La Esperanza, where the land space is enough for farming and to raise chickens. Her recently constructed Habitat home brings her a joy and a peace of mind she could not have known just a few short months earlier. Just this year, Maria’s eldest son lost his wife. Having a home through Habitat meant Maria could leave her work as a daily market vendor and go to the countryside to take care of her 2 grandchildren while her son mourned his recent loss and continued working to provide for his family. Just a few short months earlier, the high cost of her rent would not have allowed her this option or easily would have caused a financial hardship.

Two months later, Maria is back to her sense of normalcy. You can see the affection from her daughter, who is happy to have her back home. In her new Habitat home, Maria is relaxed and says she can sleep much more peacefully. There is less traffic, less noise and she no longer has a high rent. She continues to work hard and enjoys a better quality of life where her family can be her foremost priority.

Maria credits the volunteers who came to help with building her home – “it was a very beautiful experience because (the volunteers) worked a lot. I was sad when they left, because we shared a lot. They worked here and helped, especially with the columns.” “I shared a bit of refreshments and food but they did not accept it because they wanted to be considerate—but the last day with my children we shared in a meal together.” Maria says sharing this meal was her favorite part of the experience. They blessed me so much that I wanted to bless them.

“Thank you so much for your help” Maria says, “for the support that you gave us when you came, because of your help the house was built quickly.” We are so grateful.