Cristobalina Socon lives with her daughters and husband Carlos in the department of Sololá, Guatemala. While her daughters attend school and Carlos works in agriculture, Cristobalina takes care of her home and family. When she learned about Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, she decided that investing in a Healthy Home Kit would be a good decision for her family.

Cristobalina’s daughters daughters are 10-year-old Lendi and 7-year-old María and because of their family is utilizing the Healthy Home Kit, their overall health has improved. Cristobalina explains: “We didn’t have a water filter before and now, thanks to God, we do. We had to drink water from the spigot and when I had time I would boil it for my daughters to drink. My daughters stomachs almost always hurt.” Because their family is utilizing the Healthy Home Kit, 10-year-old Lendi’s and 7-year-old María’s no longer experience stomach aches regularly. Cristobalina explains: “We didn’t have a water filter before and now, thanks to God, we do. We had to drink water from the spigot and when I had time I would boil it for my daughters to drink. My daughters stomachs almost always hurt.”

“Before we didn’t have a latrine, either. We had to ask other people to share.”, continues Cristobalina. “Now we have a latrine that just the four of us use! And our old stove, well it didn’t work well. It filled our home with smoke. Now my new stove lets me cook really well!”

As for the volunteers who supported her family by constructing the stove and latrine, Cristobalina has happy memories. She ends by saying: “I would like to thank God for their help and for my new stove!”

 

The Zuninga family lives in the department of Sololá, Guatemala and recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala to implement a smokeless stove, sanitary latrine, and water filter. Karina, who lives in this home, had taken her baby to the doctor, so her in-laws talked about their experience with the Habitat Guatemala volunteers!

“Before building the smokeless stove, Karina shared my stove.”, explains Karina’s mother-in-law, Nicolasa. “We were cooking for 10 people on one stove so it is very helpful to have another stove now! We were also all sharing one latrine–so it is very beneficial to have another!

Nicolasa concludes with a message to the volunteers who spent time with her family: “Thank you for supporting my family! These changes benefit the children most of all.”

 

Isabel Tzul lives with her husband, Mario, and their four sons–Mario, Abner, Christian, and Daniel–in the department of Totonicapán, Guatemala. While Mario works as a superintendent of the local school and the four boys are in class, Isabel takes care of her families home and weaves traditional clothing which she sells.

“Before building our home on land that I inherited from my father, we lived about fifteen minutes away on the other side of the mountain.”, Isabel explains. “Our house was old and deteriorating. There was also no way to access it by car so we decided to build our new home here. It is much easier to take care of things where we live now. And thanks to God we are comfortable! Our house is not too hot or too cold.”

“Habitat Guatemala has an office in Totonicapán and we had always heard about them, so we went to the office for information about the house designs. It’s nice that Habitat Guatemala does this work! We chose our design because we have four children who are still growing.”, Isabel continues.

Isabel smiles when she talks about the volunteers who traveled to Guatemala for a week to support the mason she and her family hired to build their home. “Truthfully, it was lovely to have them here! We liked how kind they were. We always remember them and the fundamental role they played in building our home. May God bless them! We think of them every time we look at the photo they gave us.”

María Esperanza is a single mother of two adorable boys, 5-year-old Paulo and 3-year-old Diego. She owns a shop in Panajachel and before she built her home in San Lucas, she rented a home for her family. When she found affordable land in the San Lucas area, she knew it was a good opportunity to stop renting and build a house, allowing her to save financially and invest in the future of her family.

María explains how owning her own home has improved her life: “Having my home is so different! When I rented a house, we only had two rooms. Now we have more space, I can do what I want with my home, and I don’t have to worry about my boys breaking something in a house that isn’t mine!”

María wants to send a message to the two groups who volunteered to help build her new home: “It was a big help to have the volunteers! I want to say thank you to both groups for their time. It helped speed up the building process so that we could move into the house sooner.”