Luisa is a 39 year-old mother of two children Alvaro, 9, and Lourencia, 14. When Luisa was kicked out of her home by her husband when he discovered she was HIV positive (she probably contracted this from him but this is not known), the local community leader gave her a plot of land and she built a simple home for herself and her children. As she became sicker she was unable to repair the house and it fell into a state of disrepair. Luisa elected not to take anti viral drugs due to the stigma associated with them. Habitat has been working with her and she is now taking the medication but is still sick as it takes time for them to work.
Despite being sick, Luisa did her best to help during the construction process by retriving water and stones.
The community helped by building a road to enable the materials to be dropped off as close as possible to the house.
Habitat partnered with Luisa and her family to build a 15 square-meter 2-room home. During the homebuying process, Habitat trained Luisa so that she now has a written a will to protect the rights of the children in the event she passes away. Habitat also supplied Luisa' family with water purifying tablets and mosquito nets. Luisa now farms the small plot of land around her home in order to provide food for her growing family.
Luisa said that getting selected for the Habitat home gave her the incentive she needed to go on the anti viral drugs and she now sees a bright future for herself and her two children.
matt haugen : 3:05 PM on March 11, 2012
matt haugen