February 2011: 22 Volunteers, 2 Homes, 2 weeks.

The first Team of 2011 is headed down to the village of San Miguel Duenas. 22 volunteers and a volunteer Team Leader intend to build 2 homes for 2 families in 2 weeks. The 22 volunteers will be getting their hands dirty,working alongside our Host Partner, Open Windows Foundation and the families.

The village of San Miguel Duenas purchased a piece of land adjacent to the small town. Intended to solve some of the housing crisis in the town very few of the townspeople could purchase small parcels of land and afford to build a home on it. Many couldn't afford the land title but could build a home. And still others couldn't afford either. A committee, comprised of council members and community stakeholders including members from Open Windows Foundation, was formed to figure out a fair selection process of who would receive what.

When our Team of volunteers were set to come down for 2 weeks in February the committee selected 2 families. The first is a family of ten. 2 women and the rest children. and the second is a family of 6, a mother with 5 children ranging in age from 16 - 3months old (as of August 2010). Often families who rent a parcel of land to live on have homes made from wooden. Both of these families also rented their homes which are currently made out of corrugated sheet metal. Their new homes will made from cement blocks with proper facilities to cook and use the washroom.

We wish our volunteers all the best as they arrive in Guatemala and create safe, clean and sturdy homes for deserving families. Keep visiting for updates.