Healthy Homes for Humanity

Healthy Home Kits: Tackling major health issues in Guatemala

Poverty is a rapidly growing problem in Guatemala. Three in every five (60%) people survive on less than $4 USD per day and millions live in dangerously unhealthy conditions. Less than half of Guatemalans have access to proper sanitation services – 95% of water is contaminated as a result. Waterborne diseases cause 40% of infant mortality and more than half the population suffers from respiratory illnesses.

Habitat for Humanity Guatemala is tackling these interlinking issues through its Healthy Homes for Humanity programme. The project provides families living in poverty with three basic services to improve their health and quality of life: a smokeless stove, water filter and sanitary latrine.

Families are involved in the entire process and learn how to assemble, use and maintain each product. Each family makes a 5% contribution to the cost, the remainder of which is funded through the programme’s $675,000 USD annual budget.

The programme began in 2010 and is now active across all of Guatemala’s 22 administrative departments. Over the past few years, the number of Healthy Homes solutions implemented has increased by an average of 16% each year, benefitting around 300,000 marginalised and vulnerable people through improved health, dignity and self-empowerment.

Alian Sicay is a 27 year-old mother of two children, Dylan (7) and Kendra (3), spouse to husband Rubenson (27), and cares for her mother Francisca (79). Alian identifies as an indigenous Kaqchikel Maya.

Until several months ago I was cooking over an open flame that created an abundance of smoke. The smoke not only filled my small kitchen made of adobe blocks, but it filled my children’s lungs and made them cough. Every time I went to prepare beans or tortillas for my family, my eyes would burn as the smoke rose from the flame. My tin ceiling is covered in soot, evidence of all of the meals that I prepared in unfit conditions.

I was never able to cook many items at the same time, due to lack of space for my pots and pans. I would often need to stoke the fire over and over again so that I could prepare a full meal. This meant that long after we had eaten our dinner, the smoke would linger late into the night, making it impossible for us to sleep. I also needed to boil the water that we wanted to drink, which meant more time over the same flame, more firewood spent to boil it, and then we had to wait for it to cool down before we could drink it.

Although my family had the desire to go out and fetch our own firewood, it was too difficult, because firewood is scarce. Instead, we needed to buy wood to fuel our fires, and the amount that we were buying wasn’t cheap.

When it came to my family’s health, my bathroom was another problem. We had a makeshift latrine that consisted of a toilet bowl made out of wooden slabs and there wasn’t a lot of privacy. After many years of using it, it smelled bad. The size of the toilet was too big for Dylan, and I often worried that when he went to the bathroom he might slip and fall into the pit below.

I also often wondered if the reason my family was getting sick with stomach issues was due to the poor conditions of our old bathroom.

One day when I was having a conversation with my sister in-law about all of the problems that my family faces, she told me about Habitat for Humanity Guatemala. She put me in contact with them and I was happy to participate in different trainings so that I could learn how to use and better care for my products – a stove, a latrine, and a water filter.

The best part was that my neighbours and other members of the community were going through the process at the same time – we were able to work as a team to make this project a reality.

Building our latrine and our stove was very enjoyable. We worked together as a family to fill buckets with dirt, following the ‘recipe’ that we were taught, to make our adobe blocks for the stove.

I can now prepare all of the dishes I need for a meal at the same time because I have a large stove top. We buy less wood, meaning my family has savings to buy other things like more food and for Dylan’s school fees. There is no more smoke because I have a chimney that brings it outside. It’s less of a chore to make meals, and now when the fire smolders after dinner it keeps us nice and warm instead of creating an uncomfortable space for us to sleep.

I also save firewood because I don’t have to boil water to make sure it is safe to drink. We have a water filter that allows my family to have cool and clean water at any time during the day. Thanks to the trainings that I took, I know that I will have to replace the filter cartridge in the future; I’ve already started saving so that I can buy it when it’s time.

Our toilet is so much better. It is easy to clean and gives us the privacy that we need. The toilet bowl is sturdy and works for each member of my family. I feel that my family is healthier because the environment is cleaner. I no longer worry about Dylan when he goes to the bathroom by himself.

My family is very grateful to Habitat Guatemala for all of the support that they have given us. I feel that my family now has hygienic practices and it’s thanks to the stove, latrine, and water filter that we use on a daily basis. I hope they continue to help people who need it, because they sure helped me.

Filomena Cuj is a 64 year-old mother of two children, William (22) and Nixon (18), and spouse to husband and farmer Nicolas (63). Filomena identifies as an indigenous Kaqchikel Maya.

For twenty years I cooked over a cracked stovetop that filtered smoke into my entire kitchen. I didn’t have the space that I needed to be able to prepare my family’s food and the flame consumed large amounts of firewood. I was the one who went out to search for the wood, and it wasn’t always easy to find.

The smoke from the fires I would make irritated my eyes tremendously and gave me horrible headaches. When my kids were younger I worried how the smoke affected them too. The flame was relatively open and I also feared that William and Nixon would burn themselves.

When it came to our bathroom situation, I worried about my kids as well. They didn’t have the privacy that they deserved because the bathroom was made up of wooden posts with an old tarp strung around them. The toilet bowl was an old concrete seat that had cracks and started to sink into the ground.

My family also suffered from stomachaches from the water that we drank. We have a small spigot in our home, and we always drank directly from it. I never understood that the water was contaminated and that was what was causing us to fall ill on a regular basis.

When I heard about programmes with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, I knew that I wanted to get involved. One of the members of my community serves as an ambassador of Habitat’s work because she knows how important these products are to our health. I spoke with the leader of our community and she put me directly in touch with them – they said that they would love to help my family.

After receiving a Habitat Guatemala stove I feel very content with my cooking situation. I have plenty of space for my pots and my tortillas on the same stovetop. The stove works well and there is no longer smoke in my kitchen. Now, when I go out to collect firewood, the same amount I brought back before lasts longer. I now have more free time to attend to other tasks around the house.

Our new latrine also means I worry less. We now have toilet bowl that isn’t cracked, and a shelter made of wood – providing us with more privacy, and it feels cleaner in general. Taking care of our necessities is now comfortable, like it always should have been.

The water filter that we now own has completely eliminated our stomachaches. I’m certain that the water that we are drinking is clean and I’m not fearful that we will become ill.

The filter is easy to use and clean – for everyone in my family.

Habitat Guatemala has improved my family’s health. We have healthier lungs and stomachs thanks to the products that we received. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart, for helping us in a time of need and encouraging my family to continue improving our day to day lives on our own.