Day 5: Buried Secret

Introduction

Your children are not your children.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, 

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, 

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. 

                                           -Kahlil Gibran

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Ninth Family: Doña Enma

Written by: Geraldina

Doña Enma gave birth to her first child at a young age. Unfortunately, her husband died while working far away from Sibinal. She had to raise her son as a single mother and was forced to move back with her parents.

Soon thereafter, she met her second husband. Together, they had four more children. Doña Enma’s second husband would leave for weeks at a time without financially supporting their children or providing basic needs such as food and clothes. Once again, she moved back with her parents and was faced with supporting five children on her own by washing clothes, chopping and selling firewood.  

During that time, her mother passed away and her father remarried. Living under the same roof with her stepmother resulted in an unhealthy environment because of her step mother’s alcoholism. Doña Enma helplessly watched the negative consequences of alcoholism affect her children, but where would she go? She didn’t have any other options available to her.

Her father had promised Doña Enma she would inherit a small plot of land; however, before they could legally settle on an agreement he forced her and his five grandchildren out of the house. Without a place to live with her children, she was obligated to take out a loan to build a small house in a plot of land she purchased.

Although Doña Enma now has her own home to live in with her children, she lacks all basic home services. She does not have water, electricity, or a latrine. Every day, she must fetch water from her father’s house which is far away. Her children are unable to bathe and wash their hands. The lack of hygiene has caused her children to often get sick as she is not always able to wash fruits and vegetables.

Dear readers, with your generous donations, Doña Enma’s living situation will soon improve. Even if we are not currently able to cover all her basic needs, she will soon have running water and an all-purpose wash station where her family’s hygiene needs will be met. Work will begin in December 2018. To donate click on the following link ProjectHello.club

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Tenth Family: Doña Elena

Written by: Franco

Buried Secret 

Doña Elena’s visit turned into a three day journey which involved her older sibling unearthing a secret, literally.

First, Doña Elena is single mother of two children. Several years ago, her 16 year old son dropped out of school and immigrated to Mexico to work and financially support his mother and two year old sister. He is a street vendor selling Mexican tortas (sandwiches). According to Doña Elena, in the beginning he was sending enough money to buy household goods such as food and clothes. 

Overtime, he started sending less and less money until he completely stopped.

More recently, Doña Elena asked her older brother and sister for help since it’s difficult for her to work with a two year old daughter. When she does work, it’s usually washing clothes or cleaning houses.

This is the part of Doña Elena’s story that took a twist. As I had mentioned before, we ask every family to see the deed to their home. It is beneficial to both our team and family because it secures every donor’s investment.  

When we asked Doña Elena for the deed she visibly became uncomfortable. Calmly, I explained we could not use donated money and build her stove and roof if she did not own her property. I told her about scenarios in the past where deed holders had kicked families out after we had installed a cement floor or other work. She stayed quite for a while.

Finally, Doña Elena said her father had died from uncontrolled diabetes more than a year ago. She explained that her older sister Ofelia was also diabetic and could possibly have the deed to their plot of land. Doña Elena expressed her reluctance to ask her sister for the deed because she didn’t want to aggravate her illness and cause her to die like her father. I let her know it was a choice she had to make and that we would support her decision.

Two days later, Doña Elena showed up to the house where we eat. She asked if we could go meet with her sister Ofelia. She informed us she had spoken with her sister about the deed. We followed Doña Elena through a labyrinth of street vendors until we found her sister Ofelia tucked away in a street corner selling fruits and vegetables.

I kindly asked to speak to both of them somewhere quiet. I listened attentively to her sister Ofelia’s testimony of loss and abandonment. I could see she was holding on to something wrapped inside a yellow plastic bag. As she got up to leave, she handed Doña Elena the a yellow plastic bulk. She whispered to her sister that she’d had the deed hidden for years in a secret place under the earth. Then, she quietly left.

We took the documents to the municipal court where one of our sister team volunteer’s works. He verified the validity of the documents. After removing the yellow plastic bags, there were these beautifully hand written documents dating back to the early 1960’s. The newer documents were from 2014 which named Doña Elena and her sister as the rightful owners of their land. It was an incredible moment for everyone.

Your donations will contribute with the building of a stove and aluminum roof for her kitchen. Construction is due to commence in December 2018. To donate please visit ProjectHello.Club