Affordable housing for the poor

Do possessions determine our house size?

Might they determine our joy?

Having built homes in several different countries around the world, i.e., The United States, Portugal, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, it interests me to now see how they’re built here in Honduras.  Many things are constant on a house for sure,  such as walls, windows, doors, roofs, but  it still  interests me to see how they are uniquely put together differently in each country.  This picture shows the basic structure is using native material which is readily available.   These bricks are used to put up the exterior walls of the structure while a concrete composit laminate material is used for the interior.  There is hardly any wood used in the house  as the perlins are steel as well.  The back side of the apartment in this photo has a height of about 3 meters (9’+)so that the house stays a bit cooler giving some room near the ceiling for the hot daytime air to escape to.  The size, of these two apartments, is  about 3.5 X 5 meters each.  They are being built for a family of two or three people.  The renter will work in the shops that make and export materials and goods to the USA such as jeans, shirts, etc.

The photo here shows a basic home .  This single family residence is about 4×8 meters. Here, it’s about all one really needs to fit in their possessions.  We who live in the affluent countries of the world believe that we need much more space to be “comfortable” but in reality it depends on how many possessions one has that determines the size of the house.  These people don’t have much and appear to be happy with what little they have.  The fellow who lives in this house has his regular job and after work he and his wife are trying to put up a “soda” which will be a small place out front on the concrete slab that they’ll cover with a laminate roof.  They will sell soda, burgers, dogs, ice cream and chips.  From that they can augment his salary so as to help them support their first child that was recently born. This fellow is very responsible and he responds well in the bible discipleship classes  he’s attended at church.   I would like to offer an interest free loan to him so as to help him buy some laminate for the roof for his soda plus buy a little inventory.  Once he starts he’ll be able to pay each week a small portion of the loan where his payment will be principle only seeing it will be a 0% interest loan.  I would think something as small as this could be started with as little as $200.  Amazing isn’t it?

Like many of you, once a builder, always a builder. There’s just something about putting something together so basic as a house where a family can grow into all that God intended them to be.  It has always moved me to see such basic human need knowing that the solution is so available if we work together for our common good.    I am attempting to also make contact with the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate where I live   to see how I might be able to bring down a few teams to help some families in our church to obtain a small simple house of their own.  Proverbs 29:7 says, “…the righteous care about justice for the poor….”

In Joyful Service for the Gospel,

Mateo