Each year, JE sends teams to build homes in Costa Rica. While the walls and windows can radically change families lives, these building projects give travelers the opportunity to have an even greater impact in the lives of people around the world. Our U338 team had the chance to do just that last year.

Our U338 group built a house for a women named Suzana and her family in San Jose. Suzana is known as a hardworking woman who has lived in her neighborhood of Pavas for her whole life. She has five children whose father left them and works at her small stand where she sells food, snacks, and clothes, and she often helps neighbors who are in need. 

Like others in the region, Suzana’s home was in terrible conditions with a dirt floor, leaks in the roof, and some of the walls made of plastic, letting dust and rainwater in regularly. Their home was in such poor condition that the national child services of Costa Rica ordered that three of her children live in a more suitable place until their home improved. 

The incredible work done by our travelers not only changed the family’s physical wellbeing but also perhaps the trajectory of their lives. Now that she has a suitable roof over her head, Suzana is getting back on her feet and is in the process of bringing her children back home! She has also been heavily involved with the church that was build in her community since it’s doors opened earlier this year!

While we are so excited that things are looking up for this family, perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is that U338 wasn’t actually supposed to build Suzana’s house. The team was originally scheduled to build a home for one of Suzana’s neighbors, Antonias, and his family. Seeing how Suzana was having a hard time, Antonias and his family gave up their spot for their neighbors, despite their great need!

Antonias’s family will be receiving their new house this year!