The Dora Salanic Sacalxot Family

Last year, the lives of Dora Salanic (29) and her son Luis (7) were changed.  After renting a home of just two rooms, this family decided they would like to have a home of their own: their very own Habitat home. Today, this change is greatly benefitting Dora’s embroidering business as well as Luis’s upbringing.

Although the conditions of the family’s previous home weren’t unsuitable, Dora states that she has always wanted a place that she could call her own, “I wanted to have that feeling of ownership and be able to be a hostess to whomever I desired.” Their old residence consisted of one shared bedroom, and one room in which Dora did both her cooking and embroidering work.

Of the four rooms in the new home, one serves as a living room, one as bedroom, another as Dora’s embroidery workshop. The fourth room will be Luis’s own room in the future .The family has also embraced their new living situation by making numerous personal improvements to the home. Brown tiles cover the floors, wood paneled insulation keeps the family warm during the cool Xela months, a kitchen, a skylight illuminates Dora’s embroidering room, and bedroom doors help maintain privacy. Nearby there is also a garden filled with fava beans. Furthermore, Dora added a separate kitchen that allows for her to have distinct space for her culinary and artistic creations.

This young, single-mom has already created a nurturing environment for her only son, but without a doubt, having a home that she can call her own indicates the beginning of a constructive yet successful phase in her young family’s story.