Volunteering in GUA: Constru Casa
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2009
1
20
55
Trip End
Nov 20, 2010
Antigua Guatemala, Western Highlands, Guatemala
Monday, December 21, 2009
In the spirit of the season and as our time in Antigua comes to a close, I wanted to advocate for & share about the volunteer project that I spend a good deal of time at the last few months and really believe in: Constru Casa (CC).
I stumbled across Constru Casa on Idealist.org after being frustrated with the disorganization of Habitat for Humanity. Also, Habitat works a little different in GUA. For example, the houses need to be paid back 100% and beneficiary families must have monthly income exceeding 2,000Q ($240 USD), which is far from lower class. Constru Casa targets families with 1,500Q or less ($180 USD), living in a house made of corrugated iron or organic materials, and requires 1/4 of the construction cost be re-payed over four years
Logo
. Normally, this is about 10% of their monthly income. The families are selected by partnering social organizations and receive training and education, a water filter & fire stove, in addition to a house made of block, all which contribute to a higher quality of life, through health and security. The partnership is a long term collaboration and cooperation making the house far from a hands-off gift.In search of a Project Reporter & Promoter for a minimum of 6 month commitment, I applied with an offering of only 2 months, and was delighted to be accepted and to find such a passionate, focused, & optimistic, but realistic group of people running it. They even have secured donated cement and doors for all the houses! I explored other volunteer options, but after touring the facilities, it seemed my skills were less than necessary. I agree that this is self-serving, but definitely a big part of the reason I volunteer is for me and with limited time in Antigua, a desire to make an immediate impact. Even though my focus in Antigua was learning Spanish, it's that hope feeling of moving towards a goal that can be so motivating. I also wanted to see past the everyday surface to learn more about the cultural and social issues in Guatemala.
The Project Reporter position was designed to visit beneficiary families and draft written reports for website promotion and to provide donors with status information & photos about the house & family that benefited from their gift
The Office team of CC
. I continue to be very impressed by the lengths that CC goes to show gratitude to their donors (and volunteers!), a practice that really separates this organization for me. I was most attracted to the idea of getting to meet the families and hearing their stories about hardship, excitement, appreciation and resilience. Practicing my Spanish with the families was a plus, but I saw the ability to ask personal questions that would otherwise be inappropriate, about income, savings, electricity, water, prices for land, rent, school, food & children. The answers to these questions along with physically seeing the living conditions of these families are what really impacted me. I have included a few family stories that I wrote below to provide some insight into Guatemala outside Antigua, a striking contrast.Ultimately, I spent considerable time in the office redesigning the reporting system for family repayments as CC is growing rapidly and the current format was time-consuming for the volume. CC, which began in 2004, built its 332th house at the end of 2009 and is expecting to begin building close to 150 houses each coming year. The Excel skills I learned at F&D really came into play here and the result will eliminate room for error and speed up the monthly process by letting formulas calculate the remaining balance and months overdue, etc. anddd it has a lovely, aesthetically pleasing color scheme
Still constructing
. :) It was satisfying that skills I had the opportunity to learn were so useful & applicable and the timing quite perfect as the new form will kick off 2010 reporting. It's just refreshing to feel good at something after three months of struggling with Spanish! Over the next few months, I will be working remotely with CC to overhaul their Donor Reporting System and I plan to continue my support of this organization indefinitely. I urge you to visit the website for more information or to read one of my stories, and if you can, to donate an oven (which uses approx. 70% less wood than cooking over an open fire - think of that time/energy saved!), a water filter, a roof, or an entire house to a Guatemalan family in need this holiday season. Anddd if I was on your list this year, I'd love a donation to this in lieu of a long-distance present. I assure you it's going to a deserving place.
Gracias por todo & Happy Holidays!
Lindsey
Asociación Constru Casa
www.construcasa.org
Story of a family – Rolando Lopez
House 324
Rolando Lopez, his wife and two young children live in the remote village of El Tablon, near Tecpan, Chimaltenango, which happened to be the first colonial capital of Guatemala in 1524
In front of their new house
. The location of this village makes it difficult to reach as the roads are unreliable and it lies outside the scope of public transportation. As a result, the village and surrounding area is somewhat isolated from social and healthcare initiatives and even speaks a different language. A common issue in Guatemala is the obstacle of a language barrier and often results in the story of a family going untold. Spanish is the official language of Guatemala and the most widespread as it is spoken by approximately 60% of all Guatemalans. However, over twenty indigenous languages are still spoken throughout. Rolando Lopez and his family speak Kaqchikel, a Mayan language spoken by about half a million people today in the central highlands of Guatemala. Kaqchikel people typically subsist agriculturally and Rolando Lopez and his family are no exception. Rolando Lopez's entire village was extremely affected by Hurricane Stan in October 2005. Stan was a relatively weak storm that only briefly reached hurricane status, but not unusually, Rolando Lopez lives in a house made of organic material which does not withstand much force. Worse than the wind was the torrential rainfall that caused deadly mudslides and flooding. Landslides, intensified by deforestation, affected their crops, infrastructure and water sources.
Constru Casa is working to lessen the likelihood of these effects by building a house of block and partnering with the social organization Hospice San Jose to address healthcare concerns, especially with the prevalence of AIDS in the area
This Mom gave me roses from the garden
. The cooking stove and water filter that accompanies each Constru Casa house will further improve their physical health and living environment. Also, with other Constru Casa homes being built in the same area, workshops are organized for family collaboration and to help them better prepare for the future. Story of a family – Rolando & Feliciana
House 328
Four years ago, Rolando, his wife Feliciana and their two children found themselves overcrowded living in the home of his parents in San Juan del Obispo and began trying to make their dreams of having a house of their own a reality. By working seven days a week in ironically, house construction, Rolando was able to purchase land nearby and pay in installments over the course of two and a half years. As the family spends their total income each month to cover living expenses, the structure of their home was corrugated iron walls and roof over a bare earth floor. The children were frequently sick in the winter as they struggled to keep the house warm. Although more space was available, the lack of water, electricity, and temperature control remained problematic.
Even now with five children, although two are still too young to attend school, the family has been committed to providing their children a middle school education. This financial burden has been eased by both the non profit organization Familias de Esperanza (Common Hope), which provides two of their children with health care, education, clothing, etc
New stove!
. and recent Guatemalan government legislation as Guatemala public education once again became free beginning in the 2009 school year. Until this year, parents had to pay for registration, books, and other miscellaneous fees. Since 1968, schools have been permitted to charge for student’s registration even though it was mandated by the Guatemalan Constitution that all Guatemalans had the right to free education. However, school is still not entirely free as it costs Rolando’s family 50 GTQ ($6 USD) per week to pay for the school snack offering, which is significant at nearly 15% of their weekly income. Also, free education exposed the issue of space limitations in the current public schools and resulted in larger class sizes and fewer resources. As the eldest child is only 9 years old and both parents work during the day, friends and extended family will be assisting in the construction process as required by ConstruCasa. Families with two working parents are atypical in Guatemala. Fortunately, Rolando and Feliciana are able to share domestic responsibilities such as meal preparation. Rolando works in close proximity to their home and is able to return during lunch to feed the children while Feliciana’s schedule allows her to prepare both breakfast and dinner. During the two week construction, the family is sharing a single room dwelling with a single mattress. They have always hoped someday to have a house built of block. The children are very excited and ask expectant questions about what the house will look like. Rolando still can’t believe ConstruCasa and three volunteers are building a house for his family!
Story of a family – Felipe Romero
House 316
Felipe Romero, his wife and three young children have lived just outside Antigua in San Pedro de las Huertas with his parents for the past four months
Taking a break for refreshments & thank yous
. When the farm they had managed for fifteen years changed hands, the new owner required them to vacate the premises with only two weeks notice. This left Felipe’s family with no job and no house, but luckily they had somewhere to go. Stories like that of Felipe characterize the history of Guatemala. The lack of effective protection of labor rights of rural workers has been widely criticized by organizations such as the United Nations. Prior to the change of farm ownership, Felipe’s family had already applied for a Constru Casa house through the social project they rely on for education and healthcare needs. The living conditions on the farm were unsafe and difficult as five people lived in a one room tin house where the family cooked, ate, and slept. The garden previously behind their parents’ home was converted into a three room Constru Casa house of block for this family. Since construction, the family has taken impeccable care of the house by painting and adding tile floor to the bathroom. This also speaks to the trainings and workshops of the social organization Corazon de los Niños. It was very apparent when speaking with the family how proud they are of their home. They admitted that it is a little difficult to afford the monthly repayments for the house as it is 10% of their monthly income, but that Felipe was able to find an additional job for only Saturdays for some extra income for the increased expenses
Three rooms instead of 1
. The house is well worth the extra work as it is more peaceful, beautiful, and spacious. The family is very happy and very appreciative to the donors, volunteers, and Constru Casa for helping them change and take control of their lives. Story of a family – Nolberto
House 332
Nolberto, his wife Maria, and their eight children have lived just outside Antigua in Guardiania el Hato for the past three years. Prior, the family rented housing for Q100 monthly, 6% of their income, despite the poor quality of the structure. The small, wooden house had a leaky, lamina roof, but enabled Nolberto to save Q8,000 from his work as an assistant mason for a down payment on a parcel of land. Nolberto purchased the land with a one room house already on the property for Q25,000, approximately $3,000 USD, and paid the balance in installments over five years. To put this price into perspective, the down payment alone is the equivalent of four months salary for Nolbert and he has nine mouths to feed!
With the help of the social organization Common Hope, which provides sponsorship for three of their children and serves over 8,000 people in Antigua’s surrounding area; Nolberto´s family was able to construct an additional room for their house. The new room became the sleeping quarters for their four older children while Nolberto and Maria sleep with their four younger children in the room opposite.
Common Hope recommended Nolberto´s family for a Constru Casa house due to their exemplary collaboration, history of punctuality and responsibility, and of course, their need for expanded space. The partnership with Common Hope also requires that their children stay in school, which will undoubtedly provide them more opportunities for the future. In two weeks, Constru Casa built Nolberto´s family a three room house of block, which is far more secure than the current building and perfectly suited for the earthquake tremors Guatemala experiences during the change of seasons. As the family will pay one quarter of the house construction price back monthly over four years, Maria has been working 30 hours each week at 5Q/hour (≈$0.60 USD) making tortillas to assist with the new expense. They are extremely grateful for their new house and also the chance to improve their quality of life with your help.
