Guatemala House Newspaper Article

Mission Team Builds Houses in Guatemala

Mission Record, July 17,2007

            A team from Mission is on its way to rural Guatemala to build a house for a family that cannot afford modern housing.

            The project is a pilot project for what the team hopes will be a series of houses built to improve the lives of the people in the villages of Santa Maria de Jesus and San Pedro el Cerro.

            The seven-member team, from CedarValleyMennoniteChurch, made contact with Alberto and Catalina Coroy and discovered they live in a shack with cornstalk walls and dirt floors. The recipients of this pilot-project house were selected by local Guatemalan officials.

            The team has raised enough money for building materials and has ensured that the building site is actually owned by the Coroy family.  The team will also take 700 pounds of children's clothing and shoes to distribute to the village children.

            The new house will by 12x20 feet and will have a concrete floor.  The design is based on a similar project that built homes in Mexico.

            The idea for the project came to Darrel Krahn when he visited Guatemala last year.  That led him to recruit a team of builders, one of whom speaks fluent Spanish.

            Support for the project includes support from the Mission Rotary Club and members of Cedar Valley Mennonite church.