Lady with a Plastic House

ZACAPA, Guatemala – Maria’s hands are rough from a lifetime of hard work and her face shows the weariness of poverty.

A single mother with 5 children, Maria earns a living by doing laundry and cleaning houses. But her meager income simply isn’t enough to support her family.

Two years ago, when she could no longer afford the house they had been living in, Maria packed up her few belongings and moved her family to the village of Pueblo Modelo, where the community leader granted her a piece of land.

As soon as she arrived in the village, Maria went to work collecting sticks and thin tree branches to build the frame of her house. Every week, Maria would collect plastic bags that she could piece together to form the walls and roof of the shaky structure, held together by Zip-ties, rocks, and string.

The plastic would snap back and forth in the wind. Gaps in the covering allowed all kinds of weather to penetrate the home. The small enclosure offered little protection for Maria’s children.

But Maria’s troubles extend beyond her house. Her 3-year-old son, Daniel, suffers from chronic malnutrition. Four months ago, a government institution took Daniel from her meager home to help him recover.

When an Operation Blessing Guatemala team visited Pueblo Modelo to distribute food for a famine relief project, they immediately noticed Maria’s unusual plastic house and soon learned of her difficult situation. Operation Blessing staff were determined to help her.

Thanks to support from Guatemalan singer Harold Guerra, OB Guatemala was able to build Maria a new house—one made of bajareque, a material combining mud, concrete and wood.

“We are giving you a house, so that you and your children will no longer be in search of a place of refuge,” Guerra said to Maria.

With tears running down her work-worn cheeks, Maria responded, “Thanks to the Lord. “I prayed for this, I dreamed about this.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This microenterprise venture is one of many Operation Blessing projects touching lives around the world. You can be a part of improving the quality of life for impoverished communities by supporting these and other life-changing programs.