Products
& services
The products and services Constru Casa offers to families, in
addition to new homes, include: improved cooking stoves, water
filters, maintenance of the houses and a follow-up and accompaniment
program. The cooking stoves and water filters are offered in
co-operation with other organizations in Guatemala, while maintenance
is carried out by Constru Casa staff, and the follow-up and
accompaniment program is carried out by our partner organizations
and is monitored by Constru Casa staff.
Besides the construction of houses, Constru Casa also carries
out the construction of other buildings with a social or communal
function such as community centers and schools.
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Housing
Constru Casa offers families a three-room (plus bathroom) house built
of concrete blocks with a corrugated iron roof and concrete floor.
The families can choose between different types of plans. The designs
are flexible with regard to the position of the rooms, doors and windows
and are earthquake safe. A complete house costs US$4000.
Improved Stoves
Constru Casa offers cooking stoves in co-operation with Helps International,
an American organization that offers medical attention in rural areas
of Guatemala, by sending medical teams. Helps International has designed
a cooking stove that ensures that people use less wood (70% reduction)
and contains the very unhealthy (and unsafe) open fire in their house.
The benefits are both health and economic related. A stove costs $100.
Water Filters
Water filters are being offered in collaboration with Asociación
Guatemalteca para la Familia de Las Américas, a Guatemalan
organization committed to the conservation of the Guatemalan culture.
Extensive research has been carried out regarding the quality of
drinking water in Guatemala, and this filter has proven to be very
efficient and
economical in producing high-quality drinking water. A water filter
costs $40.
Maintenance
For the time that families are paying their contribution to their
house, Constru Casa
carries out maintenance work. This work does not include maintenance
made necessary
by carelessness or misusage of the house. Constru Casa tries to limit
maintenance work
to a minimum in order to strengthen the family’s sense of responsibility
and ownership of
their house.
Follow-up and accompaniment
For four years after the construction of a house, Constru Casa accompanies
and follows
up with families in cooperation with its social partner organizations.
For development to
be sustainable, Constru Casa believes it is necessary that families
receive adequate
training, learn how to make the best use of their new house, and understand
how to
employ it to really change their lives. Accordingly, twice a year,
Constru Casa organizes
workshops at the locations of its social partner organizations, where
all beneficiary
families of those organizations come together. Constru Casa staff
lead the workshops
that include group discussions, exchange of experiences, and sometimes
role-plays.
Important topics discussed include the families’ changed living
conditions, hygiene and
health issues, difficulties in adjustment, and special circumstances
and general
improvements, but also financial planning and responsibility. Through
these workshops,
the families are motivated to keep their houses in a good state and
to develop their own
lives in a positive manner.
Education and
health care
In cooperation with other social projects, Constru Casa offers health
care and education services to the families we build houses for.
Sanitary Systems
In locations where drainage is available, a standard toilet and shower
is provided as part of the Constru Casa home. On locations without
drainage, Constru Casa assists in submitting an application for drainage
connection, or in some cases by offering a latrine. Latrines are provided
in cooperation with other organizations in Guatemala, and families
are adequately trained in their use. The price of the toilet/latrine
is included in the costs of the house; an individual toilet or latrine
costs US$500.
Other social
construction projects
Besides the construction of new homes for Guatemalan families, Constru
Casa carries out various other construction projects in cooperation
with its social partner organizations. These constructions are buildings
with a social or communal function, such as school buildings, libraries,
day care centers, community centers and orphanages.
These are a few examples:
• Construction of a school and a clinic for Camino Seguro.
• Different housing construction projects before the start of
Constru Casa.
• Construction, improvements and extensions of different day
care centers of Hogares Comunitarios (program of SOSEP).
• Construction of a day care centre for Ami-go, Barcenas, Guatemala.
• Construction of a bakery for Asociación de Mujeres
in Chocantariy, Totonicapán.
• Construction of an orphanage and different other projects
for Semillas de Amor in Parramos.
• Construction of a boarding school for agricultural training
in Xix, Quiché.
• Construction of different CEO’s: Centro Educativo y
Orientación (early care / training), Sacatepéquez.
• Construction of a day care centre for Caras Alegres, Quetzaltenango.
• Construction of an education-centre for the local community
in Santa Cruz.
• Construction of a day care centre and a library in Chocantariy,
Totonicapán.
For a listing with all the proyects
realized by Constru Casa, Click here
