Their House

Merileydi De La Rosa

Merileydi De La Rosa has drive.  She is determined, and a survivor.  Our paths have crossed in the past and because of her pure determination to go to school I asked Hilda if she would make an acception and accept her into her school half way through the year.  Merileydi is 11 yrs old, and this is the first year she has attended school.  She was so excited to put her uniform on, and I gave her a used pair of my daughter’s school shoes, she was set, and hasn’t looked back since.  She loves to learn, and is quite popular at the school.  She goes to school in the afternoons for 3 hours, and is in 1^st grade.  Her health is good.

Merileydi lives with her mother Mayra De La Rosa Ortiz and her little brother Mickey who is 5 years old and was born 09 Sept 1999.  Both were born pre mature, and are small for their ages.  Mayra is unemployed and just recently was left on her own by her husband to raise her two children.  She is living in a house behind her mother in laws that was lent to her until she can find work to support her two children.

Merileydi’s house was the worst I came across and will be first on my list for a makeover.  The house is made of wood and tin, and is so so small.  It has dirt floors, and cardboard walls inside.  It is one room split into a living area and bedroom.  They are using charcoal to cook on, and the roof is leaking terribly.