The Rest of the Story:

This family formerly lived in a metal corrugated house, far up the hill out of Tizate. The entire home was just one room, outfitted with two double beds for the family of six. Ana and her family are actually neighbours to Dora, but live further up the hill. This home was constructed in 2006, but before the home could be built, an enormous 40ft retaining wall had to be put in place. It took an entire two months to build this wall, and our visiting participants on that year’s Summer Student Program had many frustrating days as earth continuously collapsed into their freshly dug trench. It was quite a feat to accomplish and the wall itself cost as much as the house to build, but what could this family do? This was where their property was. To build a safe house it was necessary to have this wall and the Lord faithfully provided.

A definite perk of living high up on a mountain is the stunning view. The house overlooks the valley and has a view of the volcano Agua peaking up in the distance.

A few years after the house was completed, a visiting Canadian donated some funds to replace the tricky, dirt staircase leading up to the house with new concrete steps. Ana and her family can now safely, in any weather, traverse the stairs.