Our build will take place in Chimaltenango. Chimaltenango refers to the period the Spanish first arrived in this region of Guatemala. The Spaniards found the main square fortified by shields. Chimali- refers to shield and tenango- means place of. The department called Chimaltenango was officially founded in 1839.
Chimaltenango is in the western highlands and is about an hour from Guatemala City. The terrain varies between valleys, mountains, and ravines. The area has 446, 133 inhabitants. About 42% live in urban areas and 79% have access to running water. It is 13th of 22 departments (Regions in Guatemala) in terms of salary levels. Chimaltenango has a 36% illiteracy rate. The temperature ranges from a low of 16C to a high of 24C during the day and falls considerably in the evening. 
Habitat for Humanity was established in Chimaltenango in 2003. As of March 2009 it has constructed 570 homes. The partner families are mostly farmers. Often the entire family works in a rented field nearby. They grow mostly corn and beans. In addition they will grow other crops to sell at a market or to a middleman who comes through the community.The typical home in the area is constructed of dried corn stalks with wooden floors. They will build a number of these structures that together form a housing complex (bedrooms, kitchen).
The Habitat house we’ll be assisting our partner family build will be a simple, decent home with 2 to 4 bedrooms, averaging about 45 square meters in size. These homes are constructed from concrete blocks, rebar, dug foundation, concrete floor and corrugated tin roof.
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