House #8

When we first went to the home the family was staying at, we were invited to sit down. Santos stood beside his wife as she sat on the hammock and held the baby. It was clear we were all feeling a bit awkward; we were feeling awkward because we were about to ask them some personal questions without knowing them, and we wanted to communicate that we had great respect for them.

Our family was a beautiful gentle quiet family of 4. Santos Raye is the father and husband and he is 26. He grew up in San Felipe which is a village nearby. He works as a farmer in the fields. Vilma Marroquim is the mom and wife and she is 30. She was born and raised here. Santos and Vilma met in San Felipe and now live where their house was being built. They have a son William Adoni. He is a bright energetic handsome 6 year old boy with tons of personality. They also have a beautiful little girl named Angelica Navele. She was 6 months old at the time of our visit.

We asked Santos and Vilma what kind of dreams they had for their lives and the lives of their children. They both agreed that when the children became teenagers they would come and work in the fields with Santos. For now they are unable to send the children to school because they are poor. They also shared that there were some things about their lives that had been hard but they did not want to talk about them.

They are so happy to have this house built for them. It will change their lives. Vilma said that the old house was so bad, and they would get so wet when it rained. She said it was the same as not having a house.

They sometimes attend a catholic church when they can.

They want to say thanks to God and to us for the new house; we are like guides (angels).
We enjoyed spending time with them, and as time went on, we became more comfortable with each other as Melinda and I were able to share a little of our lives with them. We are so thankful for our wonderful translator Patricia who helped us get to know each other. We left feeling a closeness with our family and a realization that we are all the same. We were so blessed to get to know them!

By Nicole Vinson and Melinda Oosterhof