On the side of a hill, next to a peaceful river where the children like to splash each other, there’s a brand new house that a deserving family calls home.

24-year-old María Elene decided to contact Habitat for Humanity Guatemala after years of sharing a room with her 4-year-old son David and her 6-year-old daughter Emelin Danisa. They were living in María Elene’s mother’s house, where they were “too together,” according to María Elene.

She says she didn’t have any major problems in her mom’s house, but she “wanted to give a better future to my kids,” she says.

In her new place, there’s three rooms in a row, and they are well-kept and free from clutter. The young mother of two is still in the process of decorating and furnishing, but she has already turned the house into her home. Her bedroom is quite comfortable and well-kept, and she has bought another bed to give everyone their own room in the near future.

“It feels good,” she says. “We have more space here.”

She also wanted to share her appreciation for the volunteers that came to give her a hand. “I appreciate the support you offered us. I just wanted to let you know that you are always in our hearts, and thank you for the help.”

She also wanted pass along that her nephew, the hard-working Luis, is doing well and asks about the volunteers from time to time.

As she goes forward with fixing up the house, she plans on coating the interior and exterior walls with plaster and painting them. But for now, she’s quite happy with the comfortable new place on the hillside that she calls home.

Ruben opens the door of his new home. “Come on in,” he says happily. His wife, Juana, is inside with her mother. The family has few possessions to clutter the house, so there is plenty of space to sit and talk.

The family has built their house just above San Antonio Palopó, where there are very few jobs available. Ruben is fortunate to have a job selling medicine at a nearby pharmacy.

Ruben and his family are especially grateful for his job and the opportunity, because they didn’t always live in such a comfortable place.

“Before, we were renting. We lived with more family members,” says Ruben. He explains how renting is different. “Sometimes the landlord raises the price without warning. And when we were renting, the landlord would come banging on our door at 5 or 6 in the morning, when we were sleeping.”

There was a lack of independence, respect, and privacy in their old house. And aside from the barriers to a dignified home, the family was simply losing money. Making payments on a home is a type of investment, and the family’s rent money was going straight up the ladder to the owner of the home. Things had to change.

Ruben submitted his paperwork to Habitat Guatemala, and was authorized an affordable loan to be paid back over 8-10 years. During the construction, a group from Plymouth Church came to lend a hand.

“Thanks to everyone who came,” says Ruben. “To the institution [Habitat] and everyone for taking the time to take my words into account. May you all continue on. Thanks very much for supporting us.”

For Ruben, the difference of having a new house is huge. He’s got a big living room/kitchen, two bedrooms, and an indoor bathroom. And he’s got a lot of good to say about it! “The difference is that we are more comfortable, more independent, more healthy here. And we are happier because of it! We can go out and buy things and put them in our house, and we feel content. It’s really comfortable inside the house!”

Ruben and Juana are content with their new place. They are also providing Juana’s mother her kids with a bedroom. They are planning to keep fixing things up as the funds come in, but in the mean time they are proud to be able to pay for something that is their own.

Family members: Pablo, Fernanda, 6-year-old Daniel, and 5-year-old Javier. For each of them, the house means something slightly different.

For Fernanda, it’s a source of privacy.

“We lived in the middle of the city [of Rabinal] with my parents,” says Fernanda. “But we didn’t fit.”

Indeed, they were sharing tight quarters in Fernanda’s mother’s home, and they wanted their own place, especially with two growing boys. However, getting their own place proved more difficult than they expected, and they were only able to do so after years of saving.

“More than anything now,” says Fernanda, “we have privacy.” Sharing a space with her parents was nothing easy. Now that she’s in her own house, she’s content.

“We wanted to make ourselves independent now that we are are family,” she says.

For Pablo, it’s a source of pride.

Pablo sits down to chat and his boys sit next to him attentively. As he is the family’s main source of income, Pablo knows how much his family depends on him. To be able to provide them with a comfortable home and a secure roof is priceless. Pablo doesn’t take it for granted; he knows just how hard he has worked for that home. “We are happy here,” he says. “It’s finally our own place. Nobody has control over us.”

For the boys, it’s just awesome.

Currently, one room of the home is any 5- or 6-year-old’s dream: play place. They have their bicycles, desks, and all their toys in the second room. It might not be a play room for long, but for now the boys are loving it. They especially love playing with tops, wrapping a string delicately around the top’s coned tip, and yanking the strings at the same time to see whose top lasts the longest.

“We appreciate the support,” says Pablo. “Thanks to everyone and the [Habitat] Foundation as well. We are in our new home and we are happy. If you want to come back, we are here with open arms. Come back soon!”