After 50 years together and in poverty, an older couple in Cancún received a sustainable house that was built thanks to a local entrepreneur from Sargassum.
For over five decades, Doña Lolita and Don Chinito have shared a life together in Cancun and brought out an existence on the sidelines of society. The older couple, both of whom work as servants in a local supermarket, hardly earn enough to cover the basic needs. Your modest income has long been deleted thinly through rising rent, costly supply calculations and the increasing health costs.
Then a simple act of generosity – equipped by Seetang – came up with everything.
A life of the fight
A few months ago, Doña Lolita suffered a weaker fall that made her unable. Her condition had already been struggling financially and burdened the couple's ability to cope with. She lives with diabetes and could not afford a specialist. “We can't afford it, the truth is,” she said. “The electricity bill is about a thousand pesos, water is another thousand, and that's almost everything we bring in. Then there is the rent.”
Without the resources for visiting or transporting a doctor, she was untreated. “They told me what they calculated, but I couldn't go. I didn't have the money to take someone with me,” she added.
But their history reached someone with the means – and the will – to help.
A brick from seaweed
Omar Vázquez, a local businessman who is known for the production of environmentally friendly bricks from Sargassum, heard about Doña Lolita and Don Chinito's situation and decided to act. Vázquez, who was previously recognized for his work in sustainable building, visited the couple personally.
“We came to see the house and the conditions in which she lived,” said Vázquez. “We couldn't go away. We have already worked on many projects, but that – that was important.”
He mobilized his team and members of his religious community and jointly began to build a new home for the couple – one from Sargassum. These bricks not only use a problematic natural material, but are also durable, sustainable and surprisingly effective when regulating the interior temperatures in hot climates.
Would build up
Construction began with a mission: Deña Lolita and Don Chinito give a dignified, accessible home. The house includes a ramp for wheelchair access, a bathroom and space for comfort and security. “The goal is to start from the beginning, to build a small house, a bathroom and set a ramp,” said Vázquez. “God wants we will break a record next week and deliver your house.”
The team worked tirelessly in less than two weeks and the results were almost transformative. The emotions ran up during the unveiling.
“I want to thank Don Omar for everything he did for me,” said Doña Lolita. “I lived in a very unfortunate condition and today I see the miracles that God sent me. He built me a nice little house and I'm very happy.”
Transform a coastal crisis in hope
Sargassum, the seatang, who made this home possible, is often seen as an annoyance. In massive quantities in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, his presence is associated with bad smells, disturbed ecosystems and damage to local tourism. However, the floating algae, which are enough in nutrients and are adaptable to warm, salty water, also plays a vital ecological role and offer food and accommodation from different types of sea.
The innovation of Vázquez turns this environmental challenge into one chance. By converting the seaweed into building materials, it not only helps with cleaning the coast, but also deals with an inexpensive, sustainable solution.
This is not the first house with Sargassum bricks, and it won't be the last. Vázquez continues to work for a more comprehensive introduction of this method to combat approaches and the deterioration of the coast.
Built a future from the sea
When the sun on the day the house was delivered, the small structure was a symbol of resilience and human quality – not made of concrete or steel, but from the same seatang, which so many see as a problem. For Doña Lolita and Don Chinito, it is more than one roof over their heads. It is security, stability and recognition after a life in calm endurance.
And in part of Mexico, in which every season washing waves from Sargassum on land, it is a memory that solutions can come from the sea – in combination with empathy and action.
After 50 years together and in poverty, an older couple in Cancún received a sustainable house from Sargassum. . .