- [Narrator] Mary is asingle mom who lives in Peru.

On the day we met her,she showed us their house

which had collapsed in a storm.

- My children were sleepingwhen I got home from work.

It was raining becauseit was rainy season.

Suddenly, I started hearingthe wood cracking in the house.

- [Narrator] Mary worked as a recycler,

collecting plastics to sellto buy food for her children.

- I went out every morning at 3:00 AM.

Sometimes my childrenwould not eat all day

until I came home from selling.

I also worried everyday that, at any moment,

my house would fall down.

- [Narrator] Finally it happened.

- I remember it was July.

My house was making more noise than usual

so I could not sleep.

Suddenly, one of the maincolumns started to break.

I woke the children and shouted,

"The house is falling down.

Get out!"

- [Narrator] They wentnext door, but no one slept

- The next morning atdawn, we heard a loud crash

and we knew it was our house.

The walls and roof hadcollapsed, crushing everything.

- [Narrator] Mary and thechildren tried to recover

what they could,

but most of their possessions were damaged

or destroyed by the rain and falling roof.

Mary said she had hoped thatlocal government would help.

- I told them this is urgent.

I don't have a place for my children.

I thought they might help,

but they told me that itwould take a long time.

- [Narrator] When Operation Blessing

learned about her situation,

we partnered with the local government

to build Mary and herchildren a new house.

They provided wood and metal sheets,

and Operation Blessing hired the engineer

and the construction team.

- When they startedconstructing the house,

I was so eager to see it finished.

- [Narrator] When the house was complete,

Operation Blessing gavethem new furniture,

including bunk beds, a storagecabinet, table and chairs.

We also provided a newpropane stove for cooking.

To help Mary earn more income,

we gave her what she needed tostart a mobile food business

near her home.

- God is so good.

I am very grateful for a plate of food

and for the business I now have.

Now the children havesomething to eat for breakfast,

lunch, and dinner.

And thank you for the house,for keeping my children safe.

Thank you a thousand times.