Chris Johnson | Posted on January 17, 2025 |

100 Salvadoran families in disaster-prone area near volcano grateful for safe, new homes

SAN VICENTE, El Salvador — Claudia Bonilla will never forget that horrible rumbling sound that rainy night 15 years ago when torrential rains linked to Hurricane Ida triggered mudslides in several areas of El Salvador, killing more than 130 and destroying homes and property in several communities.

Communities and villages near the base of the dormant, 7,155-foot San Vicente Volcano (also known as Chichontepec from the indigenous Nahuan language that a handful of elders in El Salvador still speak) were among those hardest hit with at least 23 deaths reported. Entire streets were covered with mud and rocks. The slides dammed parts of Accihuapa River, exacerbating the flooding.

“We were in a dangerous spot,” Claudia said of the home she shares with her mother. “The mudslide wound up going right past our house.”

Claudia has four children and still lives with her mother, but she is one of the partners for one of 100 new Fuller Center for Housing homes in a colorful neighborhood within walking distance. A total of 85 homes have been completed, while the final 15 are nearing completion. They’ll be move-in ready as soon as municipal officials can connect the water and power supply.

“We are very excited,” Claudia said. “I have four children, and this is going to give us a place that is safe, where we can cook, and where we can sleep peacefully. It is a great blessing.”

Another 99 families also will be able to sleep in peace and safety. Even when there is no imminent danger from mudslides, flooding remains a constant threat to their homes every rainy season — as if the poverty housing conditions in which most of them live are not already hazardous enough on their own. Dozens of families’ metal-and-stick shacks are less than a quarter-mile from the new community but hidden away throughout the lush environment. The Accihuapa River that is prone to flooding is where some wash their clothes and obtain water.

“All of these families live in really hard conditions,” said Jorge Brito, The Fuller Center’s local construction supervisor. Here, they are going to have sewers, water and electricity. These are safe houses, and it’s a safe space for the families.”

Brito, who also works in the private construction industry, has been helping to lead construction of homes since 2009 when he teamed up with The Fuller Center’s partner on the ground in El Salvador, Gente Ayudando Gente. This 100-home community in San Vicente is one of several he has seen replace pockets of shacks, and it’s why he keeps working with The Fuller Center.

“I like to see changes,” he said. “You see an empty field, and then later you see the construction. I like that part. I like to see the changes.”

Seeing the new home compared to the previous living conditions is an obvious before-and-after image. However, it’s the changes that happen with the homeowners themselves that drives him to keep building.

“I’m really happy with this work because I see the changes in the families,” Brito added. “They have health. They have food. They have more prosperity. All the kids go to school in better condition because they live better. They can do their homework, and they have better health. It’s really gratifying for me because you can see all the changes from just a year ago. Every year, you will see the progress in the families.”

Fuller Center President David Snell toured the community with a group of supporters from partner nonprofit The People Helping People Network. Fluent in Spanish, Snell chatted with the homeowners and was invited into multiple homes. He noted that the joy with which these partner families live — even while still in poverty housing conditions — is common throughout many Latin American countries.

“The people here in San Vicente are just lovely, and they’re gracious,” Snell said. “They invite us in and want us to see their homes. They’re proud of what they’re going to be moving into. There’s just a kindness about them that is very, very sweet.”

The homes are solid and colorful. Families seemed particularly proud of having toilets and showers inside their homes, as well as a safe indoor area to cook meals for their children, who are just as excited about a new soccer field adjacent to the tight-knit community. Parents and children alike seem most impressed with the amount of living space inside the homes, though it would be considered quite modest by U.S. standards.

These spaces, though, are mostly empty as the community awaits its final power and water connections. One home, though, does have furniture. That’s where Roxana Flores is living with her mother. They are both battling major health issues.

Her mother Maria would walk the streets asking people to give blood when her daughter needed brain surgery. Now, Roxana has an inoperable brain tumor that presses on her eye nerves, a condition they struggle to mitigate with an 8-pill-per-week regimen that takes much of their income. Meanwhile, Maria was set to undergo surgery for a hernia, but doctors discovered a heart condition that requires more urgent surgery. In the meantime, their landlord kicked them out of the home they had been renting.

During a 2024 visit, YouTube star Mr. Beast heard their story and furnished the home to help them through this difficult time.

Both Roxana and Maria shed tears of pain and joy as they explained their situation. They felt that they were battling their situation alone, and now they are being surrounded by a loving community of families that also are being elevated out of harsh conditions. While they are grateful to for the hand-up into a decent home of their own, they believe The Fuller Center is merely the vehicle for their improved living situation.

“We are blessed and so thankful for the support,” Maria said, “but this is a miracle from God.”