Guatemala House Building Volunteers

Many Guatemalan families live in poor quality makeshift homes, built of nothing more than cardboard or sugar cane walls with dirt floors. The combination of makeshift building materials and poor construction leaves families extremely vulnerable to the ramifications of harsh weather conditions during the stormy season. Poor quality, dilapidated housing fuels health problems and destroys family unity and hope. Working with this project gives you the opportunity to help directly with some of the world’s poorest families to build or rebuild houses making them strong, safe, culturally appropriate and affordable to maintain. These homes become the foundation for a community building process.

While home building is the project’s main focus, we recognise that houses just remain structures. Communities remain collections of impoverished families without proper health and education. In addition to homes, we believe that providing poor families with better access to healthcare and education most effectively helps address community deterioration in highland Guatemala. The project makes health and education possible by subsidising healthcare costs and school registration fees. While they can't combat this problem in its entirety, they try to assist the most vulnerable families in the highlands.

Each home costs approximately $1,500 to build for materials and transportation. In addition to building houses, funds are put toward building bunk beds, healthcare needs and school supplies (books and markers).

Once the house is completed, the family can move their belongings into their new home and are handed the keys. This is always a very emotional time for both families and volunteers alike; an extremely rewarding moment that you’ll never forget!

On your first day you will have a full briefing from staff in Antigua, here you will have a brief overview of the project aims and objectives and a chance to meet the group you will be working alongside. You will also meet the master builders who be there to oversee the build, a brilliant team with a great sense of humour!

Each day we meet in the morning at the base in Antigua before piling into a truck and and driving to the village where you’re building, up to 40 minutes outside of Antigua town. The first day is spent digging and laying the foundations of the house in preparation for the building. The following 3 days you will be building the house block by block. Each house are made of concrete blocks, with cement floor, corrugated metal roof, with skylight, a metal door with lock, and a metal-framed window with glass. Once the house is built the next day is spent decorating. The family choose the colour of the house and each house is furnished with a bunkbed. At the end of the final day you will gather around and present the keys to the new family, a truely unforgettable experience!

Your working day finishes late afternoon, typically around 4pm or 5pm and the evenings are yours to explore Antigua’s night life. Weekends are also free to explore the surrounding area. Throughout your stay on the project you will live with a friendly local Guatemalan family not far from the centre of Antigua and close to the project base.
 

Volunteering in Guatemala and changing lives house by house – this trip gives you a superb opportunity to give some of the world's poorest families direct help. You’ll be building – or rebuilding – houses, making them strong, safe and affordable. Each house takes around five days from start to finish and that means you’ll see lots of projects through from start to finish. Don’t underestimate the power of the moment when you see a family take the keys of their new home.

Much of the housing in the area is extremely poor quality – often nothing more than cardboard or sugar cane walls with dirt floors. Simple equation – poor quality housing = health problems, family tension, lack of hope. Volunteering gives you the chance to help solve all these problems.

If you have any experience with building trades – great. But don’t worry if you haven’t – you’ll be working alongside people who know and you’ll be surprised how quickly you pick up the essentials.