House #4

Our family received house #4; a family that taught us that the love of God is the love we have for each other – not just words, but actions; "love is having nothing but each other” they both explained. This is a family with a lot of love, compassion, care and humbleness. Also, a family that has been through a lot but still recognizes that God is essential in our daily life. A family that believes the love of God is the purpose of our lives. Noe Ramirez Hernandez, 37 years of age, is the patriarch of this family, Ana Silvia Carrillo, 36 years old, is his partner. They have five beautiful children, Noe Leonardo, 13; Maria Fernanda, 11; Ivette Abigail, 10; Diana Nohemi, 7; and "the baby" as they call him, Diego Alexander, who is just 2 years old.

Noe and Silvia met at a funeral. They are both from San Vicente. Noe is from "El Canton San Jacinto", Ana Silvia from "San Felipe". Noe was paralyzed at a very young age. He thinks it was because his mom was under no condition to pay for the required vaccination. His mother was told that her boy was never going to walk again but, she has always being a strong believer and, she would always hope for a miracle. "She would kneel down every night, to pray" he said with teary eyes and a broken voice. He is a very humble man. His mother would always encourage him to walk by himself. It would be a challenge every day because he would get up thinking he could walk but, he would see no difference. It was when he was maybe 12 or 13 he says, "I started feeling some tingling on my legs and from that day on I would start believing what my mother had always told me. I would start slowly walking a bit at a time", he recalls. No family member could explain what had happened, but his mother knew that it was the grace of God! Regarding his education, he said that he would feel ashamed to go to school being paralyzed so, he would rather stay home and help his mother in anything he could. Besides, he says, "Being paralyzed, it does not give me the choice to do much.” He did not learn to write or to read. Once he was able to walk again, he felt it was too late to go back to school; besides his dad would force him to help prepare the land. This is how he became involved in agriculture himself. And so, being a teenager, he now gave up the idea of going to school. "I would resent my dad for not letting me go to school, but also, I am very thankful for him teaching me to work the land and be such a hard worker.”

Ana Silvia, on the other hand, went to school. She finished Grade 9. "Going forward and finishing High School was too expensive", she said.  So, she stayed home to help mom with the house chores, as well as her dad to work the land to provide for her family. “It is a big family and we all pitched in somehow to have food on the table", she said. One day, she attended a funeral. She met Noe at this funeral. After a while, he moved in with her. Her dad had given them a piece of his land to work and start a family. They wanted to get married but they could not afford it, as it was and still is as they described," too expensive to do so."

One of her biggest dreams is they want to provide the best education for their children. Noe mentioned that he wants for his children what he could not have himself, a better education. "It is still very expensive to finish secondary school", Noe said. In order to provide for his family he has to rent one acre of land on which he pays the landowner $10/month. "Some days are good, some days are really bad", he said about collecting money to put aside for his children's education. Seeking a better life for his children's education, Noe has attempted to flee the country with the help of his brother in law, who lives in North Carolina, and his sister who lives in Los Angeles but, declined the idea for the love of his children, as they are the ones asking him not to go. Noe and Ana occasionally get monetary help from his relatives in the United States, but this is just “once in a while" he said.

They dream of sending all of their children to school to pursue a university degree but, they are aware of how expensive this can be. So, he continues with the idea of fleeing the country to go and work in "the States", as he said, with a sad look on his eyes. We ask Noe, to stay with his family, to forget the idea of leaving them. He said, "I want to do it for my children, but I do want them to become someone better than me. I am torn."
In general, they are very thankful for what they have. Ana is Catholic; Noe, was raised Christian but, "He is the same God" he said in his own words. They are both strong believers. They sometimes can't go to church because they have to walk long distances but, they strongly believe in God. "Having this house is another miracle from Him", they shared.

A message he wanted to share with Canadians goes as follows: "We are very thankful for what you have done for us. May God bless you all always. We love Valerie and her people very much and also, appreciate what you have, even when we have nothing; we have to be very happy with God. Living unhappy is a choice we make, we become stronger with the grace of God. Money will never replace the relationship with each other."

At the key giving ceremony, they promised to share the word of God through the Bible we had given them. Ana Silvia promised they would sit at least 5 minutes every day as an act of appreciation to God for getting a house which, "it will shelter us from the rain most of all" she said.

by Roxanna Serpas and Raquel Rodriguez-Serpas