Healthy Home Kit: Marcelina Buchan

Marcelina lives with her husband Rolando, and their four girls, Sindy (10), Ana (7), Tomasa (4) and Violeta (4 months) in a small community in Sololá.  While Rolando works as a mason, Marcelina takes care of the children and weaves traditional clothes.

“I used to cook over an open flame on the floor; I learned about Habitat Guatemala’s Healthy Home Kit project, talked to my husband and we decided to try it,” explains Marcelina. A few months later, she is happy with the stove. “I feel content. The stove is working great and it does not consume a lot of firewood. It heats up quickly and gives me enough space to cook all of my meals.”

Thanks to Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, Marcelina and her family are no longer affected from issues created by smoke. They used to cough and suffer from irritated eyes. Now, she can cook without any fear that her girls will have health problems. Moreover, because the stove consumes less firewood, Marcelina does not need to buy as many logs as before.

The water filter has also improved the health of her entire family. Marcelina notes that her family no longer suffers from stomach pains. She also has found that the taste of the water is different, but better.

In addition, the latrine has improved living conditions for Marcelina’s family and is now a cleaner, healthier and a more private environment. In part, this is also due to the fact that only Marcelina, her husband, and their girls use it. With the previous latrine, they had to share it with other relatives.

When asked about the group that came to help her family, a smile appears on Marcelina’s face, “I felt very happy about the day we spent with the volunteers, we had a good time.”

Above all, Ruby is grateful to the group of international volunteers that helped build her stove and latrine, “Tiox! (thank you in Kaqchikel) Thank you for your support, your big hearts and for coming to visit us. We are happy with these products. May God bless you.”