by Al Frew and Paul McLenaghan
Volunteers
GUATEMALA — The small Guatemalan highland village of Sumpango received a special gift from a group of volunteers from the Ottawa Valley during the last week of November.
Working under the auspices of, ” De Casa a Hogares”, (From Houses to Homes, FHTH), the team of 18 volunteers, under direction of the two FHTH employees assigned to each house, helped build re-enforced concrete homes for four indigenous Mayan families. These families live in homes constructed of metal sheeting, corn stalks or scrap boards and cardboard with metal roofing and dirt floors. The daily wage is approximately $8. Their only municipal service is electricity. Water, at extra cost, is delivered to storage tanks at the nearest roadside and carried to their homes as needed. There is no sewage available.
Two of the homes were built in memory of very special local people. Hani Diab and Jihan Falah from Petawawa funded a house in memory of their son Marc, a 22-year-old Canadian soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan in 2009. The other commemorative build, funded by a friend, was in memory of former Deep River resident Julian Bayley, a once active Rotarian, who spent countless hours fundraising and working in Guatemala to help the indigenous Mayans.
One house was funded by Angy Porteous and Phil Nelson of Edmonton, new members of the team. Angy is a cousin of Leanne Summers of Pembroke.
The fourth house was a gift from Paul and Ruby McLenaghan of Haley Station in celebration of their 55th Wedding Anniversary.
The “From Houses to Homes” organization has been engaged in building homes in the Antigua Guatemala area for 13 years. The house built in Julian’s memory was number 1386. The one built in memory of Marc was #1389. The house funded by Angy and Phil, #1388, and the one donated by the McLenaghans is #1387. FHTH also provides the families access to their medical clinic in the nearby town of Pastores, and support schooling for the children.
The Valley volunteers and their supporters provided a monthly basket of groceries for the next year, a fuel efficient stove and a water purification unit for each of the four families.
The Volunteers extend a huge Thank You to all those churches and individuals, and the Cobden Community Players for their continued support of their mission to Guatemala.
