Child Protection Guatemala Project #12401

Homes for Homeless Families in Guatemala

by The GOD'S CHILD Project

Homes for Homeless Families in Guatemala

Project Report | Nov 22, 2024
A Home Filled with Love and Hope

By Amelia Miller | Program Manager

María Hortencia, a resilient mother from San Juan Alotenango, embodies strength and hope.

For years, she has dedicated her life to raising her six children - Ángel, Armando, Sergio, Cristian, and twins Juan Carlos and Eswin. Though life has been difficult, Hortencia’s love and commitment to her family have never wavered.

Two years ago, Hortencia found love and support in Edwin, who became a steadfast father figure to her children. As a farmer, Edwin works tirelessly, alongside his older children, to provide for the family. However, their living conditions were challenging. The family shared a space divided between a small quarter-block gifted by another organization and a cramped tin structure with dirt floors. It was far from the safe, dignified home they needed.

Hortencia dreamed of giving her children a better life. Determined, she approached Nuestros Ahijados (ANA) and applied for one of the program’s transformative “blue houses.” During the evaluation process, her family's dire situation qualified them to receive support through a partnership with the Center for Central American Empowerment.

In just nine weeks, that dream became a reality. Hortencia and her family were gifted a solid, secure home constructed with durable block materials. The house includes two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen space - offering the family not just shelter but dignity and stability. Through Nuestros Ahijados', advocacy, even municipal fees, construction licenses, and annual taxes were waived, easing the financial burden on the family.

But the blessings didn’t stop there. Hortencia’s family also received essential furnishings, including three bunk beds, a double bed, a stove, and an eco-filter to ensure clean drinking water.

The day the keys were handed over was one of profound joy. Tears flowed as Hortencia and her family walked into their new home, a space filled with love, hope, and opportunity for a brighter future.

Permalink

Jul 24, 2024
A New Home

By Joanne Lara | Volunteers & Service Team Coordinator

So far this year our Service Teams have built a total of 38 houses. This means that we have been able to provide a safe and secure home for 171 people so far in 2024. The most recent house we built was in the village of San Mateo Milpas Altas for the family of María Carmela and Timoteo.

María Carmela and Timoteo have a beautiful family of four with their daughters Wendy and Nancy. They are a loving and caring family and the girls are growing in a safe home environment, with mom and dad. Their house, however, was not suitable for the girls to grow up in. Nancy, in particular, was regularly becoming sick due to the cold that was entering in the gaps between the sheet metal walls and roof. The dirt floor was also causing the girls to have stomach problems. Whilst Timoteo worked hard in the fields to support his family, his income was not enough to be able to improve the conditions of his house. Even when María Carmela joined him in the fields to augment the family’s income it still wasn’t enough.

The family approached the Project to see if we could help them, after seeing that other families in the village had received a home from us. We visited the house with our House Build Committee and noted that the family did indeed qualify for a house build from us.

The Rachel Schultz Service Team came down in June to build a house and we decided that María Carmela’s family would be perfect for them. After three days of hard graft the house was raised and the family had a brand-new home in which to live. The tears of joy when receiving the home in the handing over ceremony said more than words ever could.

The family also received a bunkbed, stove and water filter along with their new home. María Carmela also comes by ANA every Friday to get food and vegetables donations as part of our Empowerment Programme and the family is planning for the girls to start school next year.

The GOD’S CHILD Project has been working for over 30 years to break the chains of poverty through education, housing, nutrition and healthcare. Please click the link below to donate to support us in our ongoing mission.

Permalink

Mar 26, 2024
A Better Home for Her Children

By Joanne Lara | Volunteers and Service Teams Coordinator

Julia* came to ANA to get help to improve her living situation and to give her children a better life. She heard about our house building programme and managed to collect the documentation that was needed to apply. Every night she prayed that she and her family could get a house.

Julia understands how important it is to grow up in a good place as she grew up with her aunt after her mother abandoned her and her brother, Diego*. Her aunt gave them what she could in order to help them have a good life but Diego has a disability that was never treated. Nevertheless, he got all the love he needed.

Julia and her children had been living in the place for 6 months before they received the house from us. Before, she was renting a house, but wanted to have her own place and so she saved enough money to buy the land. They brought together some second-hand and used materials to build the house they were living in. Her children enjoyed their new place because it has a beautiful view, and they enjoy nature. Sadly though, on cold and rainy days the house did not provide shelter for them and used to get a lot of wind and cold coming inside the house.

Julia is a single mother who wants the best for her children and that is why they continue studying, to get better opportunities. They were excited about getting the house because it will not only be a huge help and improvement for them, but a blessing for the family.

The volunteers that built for them knew the heart of the family and gifted them with much more than the house. In order to get to the build site, they had to go up in a mountain and realized the effort the family has to make every day to get there, but also enjoyed the view of the three volcanoes and the city down the hill and they even said they have a million-dollar view.

Permalink

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 14 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.