Hand in Hand Gifts a Brand New Home to a Southside family
A deserving family of eight received the key to their brand new home today in Belize City. Silvia Castro, her husband and their six children were begging for lodging in rundown houses and after struggling for a while, they asked for help from Hand in Hand Ministries. And that help was officially handed over to them in the form of a two-bedroom house off Holy Emmanuel Street in the Gungulung Area. Reporter Andrea Polanco was today’s handing over ceremony and tells us more about the handing over of the new home to the Castro family.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
Silvia Castro received the key to her brand new house today. She and her family reached out to Hand in Hand Ministries a few years ago and after she met their requirements, her home was funded and later built in three days. Castro says the house is something that she prayed for.
Silvia Castro
Silvia Castro, New Home Owner [Translated]
“I feel happy and I give God thanks because this was my dream since the start of the year. I was always asking God to help me get a house, at least this year, I prayed to God asking for his help to get a house.”
Hand in Hand Ministries made that dream possible with this two-bedroom house that comes with a flush toilet, complete with plumbing and electricity. This is the thirty-third house they have built for this year.
Rashida Bethran
Rashida Bethran, Social Worker, Hand in Hand Ministries
“Today is one of the best days because we are blessing a home for a very deserving family. This is actually a blessing for us because it is a house that was through the initiative of the leadership team. This is what we call a complete house. It comes with electrical. It comes with plumbing. It comes with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a hall. Not all hand in Hand house comes with such amenities. Because this was a house donated from a local group it came with such things.”
The leadership team is this small group of women – each member is a previous recipient of a house from the Hand in Hand Ministries. They formed this group to give back to other deserving families and this is the second house they have paid for. Over the past three to four years, they fundraised close to fifteen thousand dollars to pay for this house for the Castro Family.
Melissa Wright
Melissa Wright, Leadership Team, Hand in Hand Ministries
“From year to year we do fundraising and different things in order to come up with the money to build this home.”
Andrea Polanco
“How much did it take to construct this house?”
Melissa Wright
“It took us like four years to come with the funds to build this home.”
Andrea Polanco
“How much money was that?”
Melissa Wright
“Like close to fifteen thousand dollars.”
Andrea Polanco
“You guys were also involved in the construction – talk to me about that feeling – being able to give back in this way to others who gave to you guys?”
Melissa Wright
“It was an awesome feeling for the four days that we were here. It really touched us not only because of the condition of the family but because were able to reach our goal that that we could have built for this family.”
And this house couldn’t come at a better time for Castros. For many years they were living in this dilapidated home in deplorable conditions. Castro says she couldn’t afford a home of her own and this was the only roof she was able to put over her family’s head. But all of that has changed with this new home.
Silvia Castro [Translated]
“This [house] has changed my life big time because if you see my house to the back – it is old and broken down. My in-laws built that house over thirteen years and I didn’t have the money to fix it up. So, thank God we will now have a better life; more hygienic conditions because the structures in this yard are not good and we had a make-shift septic and we couldn’t afford a cement one like we have now.”
Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
