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Juan Carlos Flores (27) and Kareli Cem (24) live in Cofradía and have one boy, Lucas (2). For the past three years, they have been moving from borrowed house to borrowed house and sometimes renting. They express that it's a horrible feeling when being told they need to find another place to live. Juan Carlos works in construction and lately has been driving a water truck for the construction of a nearby canal. He makes about $125 a week.
Their need for a house stems from not having sufficient funds in order to build. A house for them would give them security in knowing that they will have a place to live and will not live worrying about if they will be asked to move out of the house they live in. It would be very encouraging to receive a house and it would make them happier.
(Uploaded in September 2024)
The Hernández Flores Family
Emilio Hernández and Bertha Flores have been married for twenty-eight years and have three adult children: Deisy, Ocyel, and Jonathan. Deisy is married, but their two sons still live at home with them in Cofradía.
Emilio works as a day laborer, and Ocyel contributes as well by cutting hair in the community. The little house they live in was built by the government many years ago, but it leaks during the rainy season, and the income that Emilio earns is not enough to afford the much-needed improvements. In addition, Bertha has been diagnosed with uterine cysts which will cause even more expenses for the family. They comment that to have a home with better conditions would be a great blessing as it would provide security and comfort against the rains, as well as in many other aspects of life.
(Uploaded in June 2019)
UPDATE 10/2024: Still waiting for a house. What they live in now will need to be completely torn down as it is inadequate for them to live in. The tear down will be done before a potential team arrives.
Christ the King Church (Anacortes, WA) built a house for this family in January 2025. Click here for the video.
Rolando Parra Rojo and Zoica Oronia Galicia met while working in the fields. They are both very shy, and for many years neither of them could work up the courage to talk to the other. After five years, Rolando worked up the courage to ask Zoica out on a date. They dated for one year and then decided to get married. They have been married for four years and continue to hope and pray the Lord will bless them with a child.
Rolando works in the fields or in construction. Although they not have the expenses that children incur, their savings have not been sufficient to afford the cost of building their own home. Through great sacrifice, they were able to build a shack made of sticks and mud on a plot given to them by Zoica’s mother in Cofradía. Having their own cement-block home would, for them, mean security from the threat of animals in the area and protection from the rain.
(Uploaded in June 2019)
UPDATE 12/19/2022: Rolando is not working. He is currently waiting for a surgery on a hernia.
UPDATE 10/2024: Rolando is still waiting for his surgery. He is unable to lift heavy things, but is doing his best to make ends meat. A house for this family is a high priority as the current place they live leaks.
Valentina is 61 years old and a single mother of three kids. She has lived in borrowed houses all her life. She is currently living with her parents. The past few years have been very difficult because there are other siblings sharing the house as well. For that same reason, there is a lot of conflict amongst her siblings. Her fear is that once her parents are no longer alive, her siblings will take over the house and leave her with nothing.
She is the one who takes care of her parents and has been doing so for over 25 years. One of her sons just recently passed away. She had been taking care of him since birth also. This was very hard for her, but in the midst of all the pain of that loss, God has given her peace and hope.
Her second son works and provides for the family. Her daughter, the youngest, is married and started a family with her husband; they live in their own home.
Having her own place would be significant and a great blessing from God. It would help her feel secure and confident without fear of being placed on the streets.
(Uploaded in December 2019)
Christ the King Church (Anacortes, WA) built a house for this family in February 2024. Click here for the video.
Eduardo and Zeferina live in Eduardo’s hometown of Cofradia. Zeferina is from the indigenous community of Agua Aceda, one of the first indigenous towns as you make your way up into the mountains from Cofradia. She had come to work in the fields of Cofradia where she met Eduardo. After a time of getting to know each other, she moved in with him.
At the beginning of their lives together, they had to rent a house which was very difficult for them financially because of their low income; they barely had enough to eat. That led to Eduardo’s dad gifting them a piece of property where they made the house you see in the pictures where they live. As you can see, one of the walls is a tarp.
Eduardo is a hard worker, but it has been very difficult to build his own house with the wages he recieves. They have four children. The oldest two are from Zeferina’s former marriage and the younger two are their’s together. The kids’ ages in 2019 when they were interviewed were: 13, 10, 6, and 4.
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María Vázquez is a hard working single mother raising her son, Eric, in the nearby town of Santa Fe. When she was younger, María worked in Ruiz (city nearby) where she met Eric’s dad. He moved to the United States, and later María and Eric moved there to be with him. It didn’t work out for them, so María and Eric moved back to Mexico when he was young and stayed with her sister since her brother-in-law also was away working. However, when her sister’s husband returned home, they had to move out. She rented a house for a while, but it was very difficult for her to make the payments with money she earned selling meals. The house they live in now is in the picture above. Part of it is caving in and as you can see, a tarp is needed so the rain does not come through the roof. For her, having a home would mean happiness, peace and the security of having a safe place of her own.
(Uploaded in March 2017)
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