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Building a Better Future in Mexico

Martha Fuentes has never lost her faith in God throughout all she has faced as a woman, as a mother and as a member of her community. The mother of 18 children and partner of a husband who struggled for years with alcohol addiction, Martha fought to bring up her children and help her husband conquer his sickness. She succeeded in both efforts. . . . After the birth of her youngest child, Martha's doctors told her she was ill and that the end was near for her. Her only hope was an "internal reconstruction". While the people of the community wept for her and reminisced about her as if she were already gone, Martha's will was stronger than ever. She knew, she says, that the Lord would help her overcome her physical ailments. "My husband and children were waiting for me at home," she says. "There was too much left for me to do there".

Home was a 25-year-old two-room house made of bricks and mud with a dirt floor. The roof leaked, often soaking the three beds shared by the entire family. During one flood, more than three feet of water covered the floor.

After braving illness successfully, Martha learned of Habitat for Humanity. Without any fear she joined one of its regional committees. "I was sure it was a message from God. With Habitat's help, I know we would be able to get our new home. And we did," she says.

Martha Fuentes and her family were one of the first in San Diego, Guanajuato, Mexico, to move into a home built by the León Habitat for Humanity affiliate, which has benefited from more than $18,000 in tithe money from Habitat for Humanity Orange County. Her story, shared by the group's volunteers coordinator Félix Lozáno González, struck a chord in Betty Andresen. That chord resonated so strongly it carried Betty to the region in April to join "Building a Better Future," a holy week blitz build that culminated in six new homes being dedicated on Easter Sunday.

"Reading Martha's story put a human face on our tithe," says Betty, who is chair of the Global Missions committee. "The depth of her faith is compelling.

After traveling by plane to León, a city of more than a million people in the state of Guanajuato some 220 miles northwest of Mexico City, Andresen had a chance to work alongside other women like Martha. The crew of Habitat staff and local volunteers toiled from sun up to sun down for six days under the blazing springtime sun. Mealtimes brought talks about the meaning of this holy time, followed by the spontaneous sharing of individual experiences by volunteers.

"Their faith was so real, so heartfelt. They really knew the story behind the holiday, and they were celebrating it," Andresen says.

After a full day of work, Friday evening saw Andresen, the staff and two Canadians who had come down to join the effort walking in a three-and-a-half-hour procession through the streets of León to the church. Afterward they bonded over food from local vendors as they found their way back to the hotel - not that there was much bonding to do.

"I felt welcome right from the beginning," Andresen says, describing her hosts as warm and inviting. "Cultural differences disappear when you are working side-by-side with someone.

Saturday night, volunteers and staff worked until midnight, then got up again at dawn to ensure the homes would be ready for afternoon dedications. Despite their hard work, the nearly impossible 2:30 p.m. deadline brought with it a sense of disappointment. Bolstered by a week of faith and goodwill, Andresen lifted spirits by leading the group in singing "Amazing Grace," Spanish and English blurring into an international language of humanity.

Taken from the August 2000 HfHOC CornerStone

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