Habitat Volunteer ’04, ‘07

Habitat History in Guatemala

Guatemala has long been a focus of Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller.  The first Habitat house in all of Latin America went up in Guatemala in 1979 and since then, an average of 3,000 Habitat homes are constructed each year through 15 departments.  Bay Presbyterian has been an integral part of this history as we have been the sole building team in Jacaltenango, Guatemala for 13 years completing 41 homes. 

The typical construction team consists of the owner’s family, el albeniel (foreman) and 3-5 Bay Pres volunteers.  Houses are built with cement blocks, iron, tin roof sheets, metal doors, four windows and wood. All these materials are found in the communities and brought to the worksite.  The feeling of laying block alongside the family who will be moving into their first sustainable house is worth the aches and pains that come with the trip! 

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

The typical American stereotype seems to be that people are poor because they’re lazy.  My experience has completely ruled out this conclusion as to why about 80% of Guatemalan’s live in poverty, and two-thirds of that number - or 7.6 million people - live in extreme poverty. Guatemala's social development indicators, such as infant mortality and illiteracy, are among the worst in the hemisphere. Driven, ambitious and resourceful would paint a more accurate picture of what I observed from the people I built houses with on my two trips.  This was displayed multiple times during my most recent trip in 2007.   

The plot of land that we were developing was located right next to the city soccer fields which were hosting a two-day Saint Valentine’s Day celebration.  Our task for the morning was to transport a pile of bricks from the end of the road where they had been dropped, around the soccer field and next to our worksite.  A couple of 12-year-old school classes were competing against each other and observing the scene of gringos lugging block by block around the soccer fields.  Some of the children who had been subbed out of the game soon grew bored of waiting for their turn and started picking up block and following us to the site.  After the games were over the sweaty and worn out teams each took a block placed it on their heads or backs, and helped us move our pile closer to the work site.  A similar circumstance arose with two little girls, 8 and 10 years of age, who would come to our worksite on breaks from school to paint and learn English words.  After becoming bored of painting they decided that working with us would be more fun.  They nosed right in to help us shovel rocks into our cinder block wall for a stronger foundation. 

Hope for the Future