«Before, when my house was like this, made of dirt, my children played with dust and kept their hands dirty,» says María Rosaura Díaz, remembering the floor she had before it was replaced with a cement one.
«I have my 4 year old baby, I took him to the doctor every week. Now I haven’t taken him for three months.» Maria Rosaura’s new floor allows the family to enjoy a healthier lifestyle, preventing gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases, especially in children. It is for this reason that priority is given to households with children like María Rosaura, who has three children (two girls, 10 and 6 years old, and a little boy, 4 years old).
Her family sells tortillas they make and sometimes also sells food. Having a cement floor allows them to cook in healthier conditions, also benefits to their business. «One cannot wash a dirt floor but now we wash it, we mop it and my house is cleaner and my children are healthier.»
A concrete floor also has emotional motivations, as she now feels motivated to clean her house, and even her eldest daughter happily helps with chores around the house. Studies also confirm an increase in personal satisfaction after replacing a dirt floor with a concrete one.
The Pisos S3 program includes families in San Juan Sacatepéquez and El Progreso. It includes floors with different dimensions, helping to improve the health of those who benefit from the program.
