Since the very beginning of Global Shore’s ministry, providing housing for families in need has been a big part of our work on the ground in Guatemala. When we started working in the town of Tizate in 2004, many of the families were living in houses patched together by corn stalks, scrap metal and even plastic bags fastened together with stickers. In response to the need of families that had no possible financial options to improve their living conditions, our housing policy has been fairly straightforward: the family would provide one laborer for ‘sweat equity’ and we would provide the rest. Over the years, with the help of Canadian volunteers and donors, we have provided 25+ homes for families, many of whom send their children to our school and have hosted short-term team members.

Tizate is a very different town today than what it was a decade ago. Small businesses have popped up where there were none. Dirt roads have been replaced with paving stone roads and a number of households have cars. It has been exciting as a ministry to play a role in the transformation of a community that many had written off as a lost cause. As we have watched the community grow we have started to shift how we approach housing projects. We started to recognize that there was a great housing need in our immediate community, especially our staff. Though many of them own land and receive culturally appropriate salaries, the dream of having their own home without a loan is almost always insurmountable. The loans available to members of our community often come lined with high interest fees. In response we have made our housing policy more dynamic. Projects are now placed on a spectrum based on financial need, ranging from the old model of sweat equity for a free home to a fully repaid low interest loan. The new policy opens up opportunities to invest in people like our staff who have themselves given so much for the work of Global Shore and the lives of our students.

The first person to receive a home through our new policy is Karina, our fabulous school principal. In 2007 Karina, along with her twin sister Pahola, left their family and friends in Guatemala City to join our then small team of teachers and has been serving our school with wisdom, leadership and compassion ever since. Karina and her husband Leopoldo own a great little plot of land just down the road from our school and with great joy we broke ground towards the end of June. Four separate short-term teams have come alongside our local construction team to work on it, mixing concrete with shovels, digging trenches, and helping lay cinder block.

The house is now on the cusp of being done and Karina and Leo are excited to move in later this month. In Karina’s own words: