“I feel really happy and grateful with my new stove!”, begins Dina. “The old one was broken and the smoke was getting inside the room.”

Dina and her husband live with their three children, Kevin (14), Emely (9) and Cristian (3), in a community in the department of Chimaltenango. They partnered with Habitat Guatemala to obtain a smokeless stove, which is designed to use significantly less wood than most stoves families have access to, which saves money, time, and resources.

Dina concludes with a message to the volunteers: “I am so thankful to God and the volunteers who supported me by assembling my new stove, now I keep it really clean and take good care of it”.

Carmen and her family live in a small community in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. She and her husband live in their home with two children, Brian (5) and Keydi (3).  While Carmen’s husband works in the fields growing crops, she takes care of the children.

Carmen talks about her stove, saying: “It is of great help, now I can cook multiple dishes at the same time,” she continues: “I feel better, I can cook without burning myself, and there is no smoke for the kids. I also save a lot of wood.”

Carmen finishes by explaining that now, because of the chimney that is part of the smokeless stove design, her kitchen does not fill with smoke when she cooks. “Before there was so much smoke, and my daughter Keydi got really sick. Now, there is no more smoke and Keydi is much better!” she says happily.

To the volunteers she refers: “I am really grateful with them, may God bless you all. Because of your help, now we have a safe place to cook.”

Cesar Yuman and his mother Marielena are happily living in their new Habitat home.  After renting a small house for more than eight years, they wanted to have a place of their own.“We know we are making a monthly mortgage payment, but now it is for our own house,” says Marielena.

Cesar and his brother Hugo learned about Habitat Guatemala several years ago, but did not have land to build on.  Time passed by, and when they had the opportunity to buy a piece of land, they decided to build their houses together.

Marielena expresses: “I feel really happy with this house, I sometimes look at it and wonder if it is real, if it is really ours.” In the future, they are planning on painting all the walls and adding a concrete fence in the backyard.

“All the volunteers were really kind, they all have a great heart,” Marielena continues: “May God bless you all and your families for the great job you did! we are very happy with our house.”

Cinthia  Cardona lives in Chimaltenango with her granddaughter Ashley (5). Prior to building her home she lived in a small room with her daughter. “Everybody needs their own space, I needed it to improve and feel better,” says Cinthia.

Her sister built a house with the help of  Habitat Guatemala, which is how she learned about their projects and decided to build her own house! “I feel happy, I have my own space, I can welcome everybody I want, read the Bible, listen to music…” Lucia expresses. “I am planning on adding a nice floor, and concrete fence around the house.”

“I remember the volunteers who came and worked really hard. They were really funny and they played with Ashley,” she continued.  “May God bless each one of you, in wherever you may find yourself. You are welcome here whenever you want to come back. We made some memories that will never fade away.”