Homes for Homeless Families in Guatemala

As a ServiceTeam Coordinator I often get to go out to the build sites to see how our volunteers are doing and have the privilege of helping hand over the new homes to very grateful families. I have seen many different types of "before" houses over the years but one in particular stood out to me.

As I walked up to the build site I could see that there were several tall cement homes in the area and tucked in between two of these homes was a small shack made of old tin and wood. The house was in very poor condition with mold on the walls from the dampness of the rainy season and was about the size of one of the rooms in the neighboring houses. This is where little Eslyn (age 6) and Luis (age 4) lived. How could this be? Why is it that children growing up in such close proximity live such different lives? Unfortunately this is all too common in Guatemala. The rich often live right next to the poor and pay little or no attention to the suffering around them.

A new home is something many Guatemalan's can only dream of. Because of the civil war and other economic factors many parents like Eslyn's were unable to go to school as a child. Without an education they are left to take very low-paying and temporary jobs making it very hard for them to provide for the basic needs of their families, let alone build a new home.

Thanks to your support and the hard work of our volunteers the GOD'S CHILD Project was able to help provide Eslyn and her family a dignified home to live in. Because of you, Eslyn and her little brother will no longer suffer from the flu or bronchitis because of the dampness in their house. This is the positive chain of events that occurs each time we are able to build a new home for a family: a new home provides healthier living conditions which allows parents to work more and children to go to school more and means less medical expenses which means more income which can be used to provide better nutrition, housing, and education. And that is why we do what we do. With your help we provide more than just new homes, we provide new beginnings.

We hope that you will continue to support these new beginnings by participating in a ServiceTeam of your own, sharing this story with your friends and family or by donating to the project.

Thank you for all that you do for the GOD'S CHILD Project!

With gratitude,

Links:

• The GOD'S CHILD Project website
• The GOD'S CHILD Project on Facebook