In July 2007, with the support of the Week of Compassion, SWGSM launched a new program “The Casita Project”. Our goal is to provide housing to persons who either have none or who live in truly horrible conditions in the colonias of Matamoros, Mexico. Through March of 2008, already 16 ‘small houses’ have been built, as we seek to complete a total of 30 homes within this first year.
Thanks to volunteer groups from Disciple congregations across the country
and their generous donations, we truly are “Constructing Houses, Creating
Homes, and Changing Lives”
* Stories/Completed Projects - March/April 2008
Casita # 1 built for the family of Raul and Maria Valdez-Martinez
Regina, a six year old, lives with her parents and grandparents in a two room frame house in Matamoros. Her grandmother is Maria Valdez-Martinez and she does not work outside the home. Regina’s grandfather is Raul, a retired barber of 42 years whose leg ulcerated from standing so long, can no longer work. The mother, Sandra, helps at the house with cleaning and cooking; and the son-in-law, Sergio, works in a factory at nights for the family’s entire income of $ 80.00 a week.
Their present house is over 20 years old - with rotten siding, a piecemeal
tin roof, no insulation, and a toilet (no bath).
Casita # 2 built for family of Pedro and Socorro Fernandez
Pedro, now seventy years old, lives with his wife in a one room shack constructed of materials left in alley ways as scrap roofing and siding. Their home has a dirt floor and is divided into 3 areas by sheets and blankets hung from the bare rafters. The road leading to their house is unpaved, muddy, and permits traffic only in dry weeks of the year.
Pedro is no longer able to work, a victim of severe rheumatoid arthritis.
The Fernandez’s income is totally dependant on a son who is unskilled
and only able to pick up odd jobs in what is considered the ‘poorest’
of Matamoros colonias
Casita # 4 built for family of Francisca Dimaz-Sanchez
This family literally lived in a dump. An individual gave small lots to the poorest people which enabled the Sanchez family to move, putting a house together out of whatever bits and pieces they could find.
They make a meager living as they pick up and sell whatever scrap metal they can find. They do not have a car or truck but use a large tricycle with a box attached to the front for their travel and work. Their home has one room, a dirt floor and outdoor plumbing.
In addition, in a smaller shack living behind their dwelling lives their
son, Jesus, and grandson, Benito.
Casita # 5
Marciela Cano Villanueva (a part-time housekeeper) and her husband (a sanitation worker) live in a shack at the back of their property which has no permanent walls and on plastic tarp for the roof.
Their four children share a small casita which serves as the family’s kitchen as well as their bedroom (2 girls share a bed, 2 boys sleep on a mattress on the floor).
Additional help to the family comes through the Southwest Good Samaritan’s
Ministry of “Rice and Beans”.
Casita # 6
Augustine and Yolanda Mosqueda live on a mud-rutted street in Deroches Humanos, the colonia which was formerly a garbage dump for Matamoros. Their small home now sleeps eight – a sister and her small child, and the Mosqueda’s 4 children.
Rain floods the dirt floors, and the roof is constructed of rusty sheets
of tin and plywood – thus making use of their small kitchen impossible
much of the time.
Casita # 7
Rigoberto, his wife and infant daughter, have struggled to move out of their rental duplex (which costs more than $ 80 a month) to have a place of their own. Well-educated and bi-lingual, Rigo has problems being hired simply because he is considered ‘over-qualified’. The only source of income is from his part-time jobs, laying tile and working to clean construction sites.
(This ‘Blitz Build’ Casita was constructed by 22 volunteers from Iglesia
Cristiana Ebenezar, the home church of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries
where Rev. Feliberto Pereira serves as minister.)
Casita
# 8
Imelda, her husband, and 2 sons live less than a quarter of a mile from the ‘field of garbage’ which lies at the end of their street.
To help with the family income, Imelda sits for neighbors’ children during the day while her husband picks up construction work and painting as it is available.
The new casita serves as a kitchen and living area, replacing the old
lean-to that had dirt floor and leaking roof.
Casita # 9
Angelica, a 10 year old, is afflicted with spina bifida and scoliosis and has spent all of her young life either in a wheel chair (provided by SWGSM), her bed, or a mat on the floor. Beyond health problems, just physically getting her to the out-door toilet was becoming all but impossible since the dirt path was rutted or soggy from the rain.
Her family (mother, father, and younger sister) have tremendous faith and commitment. Thus Angelica, who always appears bright and surprisingly cheerful, is taken to a special education school every day. She knows - and shares - love and joy to all she meets!
The Casita (“house”) became a baño (“bathroom”), with a drain for showering
and a porcelain toilet. The final touch was her selection of the Mexican
rose colored paint!
Casita # 10
Florinda, her husband, and two small children live in this make-shift house, having been constructed of scrap pieces of lumber and tin found discarded in the sewer just two blocks away. The muddy street overflows with water and floods the dwelling on a regular basis.
Electricity is ‘borrowed’ from the neighbor’s property, using an extension
cord draped across the back fence. The toilet is a simple hole dug in
yard covered by a small frame building – which is moved whenever the hole
is filled and no longer useable.
Casita # 11 – completed – Bowling Green State University (Ohio)
Margarita lives with her 4 children (Miriam 16, Jose 11, Caleb 3, and Juan, 14) in dilapidated shack constructed of scrap tin and siding picked up beside the canal/sewer which flows just a block away. Her mother has attached a small lean-to which she uses for her living space.
Their present house is 22 years old, has a dirt floor and is divided into 2 areas, (a single bedroom and kitchen), an outdoor toilet, and no bath.
The family’s entire income depends upon Margarita’s work in a light bulb factory (from 4 to 11 pm, 6 days a week) for 80 dollars a week.
Casita # 12 – completed – Crestwood Christian/University of Kentucky (Lexington,
Ky)
Moises (19), his pregnant wife (18), and their daughter (2) share the home of his parent’s with seven other adults and children. They sleep on the concrete floor because there is no space for additional beds or furniture.
Presently Moises is helping his father as they are able to find ‘odd jobs’ in the colonia; but most of the year, he crosses the border and makes his way to Dallas where he has worked as in landscaping since he was 14 years of age. With that job, he becomes the major source for family income.
The current home is simply too small but very clean and well-kept. Adjacent to the house is an open field used now for the colonia’s garbage dump.
Casita # 13 – completed – Lufkin FCC (Tx)
Alma, her husband, and two children shared a single room in her father’s shack (dirt floors, broken siding, etc.) in one of the poorest colonias of Matamoros. Both parents are looking for work which is difficult to find due to the lack of jobs in this over-crowded city where typical wages are less than $100 a week.
Casita # 14 – completed – McKinney FCC (Tx)
For past 3 years Rafael, age 70, has lived in a lean-to 10’x12’ shack constructed from discarded wood, tin, and plastic bags found in the nearby dump. The shack is located at the end of her daughter’s cinderblock house (which is currently home for the mother and her 4 children). Rafael’s house caught fire and literally burned to the ground, destroying all her possessions and leaving only a small foundation as a reminder of what had been.
Income for the family comes from a second daughter and the generosity of her church.
Construction of her new Casita was completed the second week of March – a safe, secure, and dry dwelling with a concrete floor and a solid roof above her head.
Casita # 15 – completed – Dallas Various Churches (Tx)
Elisabeth lived in a 10’x10’ shed build onto the side of her father’s house from scrap materials, broken pieces of siding, and a plastic tarp used for the roof. Living with her are three children (a son, age 14, and 2 daughters, ages 11 and 9).
Elizabeth’s husband abandoned the family when paralysis developed on the right side of her body, leaving her crippled and unable to work. There is no apparent source of income, little family financial support, and only the barest hope that life one day will be better.
Casita # 16
Roberto, a father of six, still lives with as sole parent to his two youngest children (Christian 14 and Christiana 12). He has given a daughter one-forth of his property which is located in one of the poorest colonias of Matamoros. Her small casita (10’x16’) fills the backyard and serves as home for herself, her husband and 2 younger children, ages 2 and 5.
Roberto works at a foot-pedal operated Singer sewing machine providing
a meager income as he stitches upholstery for older cars and trucks from
his neighborhood.
Casita # 19
Rosa, a diabetic widow, lives with her three children in a shack constructed
from discarded siding found in the local garbage dump. With a dirt floor,
one room, one door, and no windows, the family sleeps in one bed and gathers
around a bare light bulb placed on a broken table. The land has been given
to Rosa by her mother who lives at the back of the property in a dilapidating
concrete block house
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Through Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries and the Week of Compassion, the Casita Project is seeking to raise additional funds for the construction of the next 30 ‘small houses’ to be built in the colonias of Matamoros, Mexico.
It is our hope that through individual gifts, support of local churches (Sunday School Classes, CMF and CWF, youth groups, etc.), and Regional ministries of the Christian Church, we can underwrite this important ministry.
These funds would then be used to partner volunteer groups from other Disciple churches, campus ministry organizations, and especially the Hispanic Christian community who have the ‘time and talent’ - but not the ‘money’ - to be involved in this mission work of the Disciples of Christ.
Sharing pictures and stories before, during, and after the project is complete – we would hope that new bonds of friendship and a sense of shared ministry might develop.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Meade
