Rising from the ashes like a phoenix is exactly what María Ponce did more than ten years ago. The 2001 El Salvador earthquake devastated El Borbollón, a village in El Salvador that was left devastated in the aftermath. María Ponce, the protagonist of this story, was one of the victims. Left homeless, she decided to turn to recycling and build her house out of plastic bottles. A sustainable architecture in which, in addition to plastic bottles, she used bamboo branches and plastic caps. All of this contributes to the structure of the walls and roof of the famous house.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, and other disasters cannot be avoided
There are unpredictable situations in life, one of which is the magnitude of a natural disaster, that can turn our lives upside down. It’s true that technology is increasingly helping us decipher the behavior of natural disasters so that we can predict their magnitude before they occur. But even today, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other disasters cannot be avoided.
Maria Ponce got the idea on a dream while she was sleeping
Maria Ponce is a clear example of how having nothing is no excuse for not getting ahead. The woman, over 80 years old, was left homeless and without the resources to rebuild her house, but she didn’t sit idly by. She decided to follow her dreams, and I mean it perfectly. It turns out the Salvadoran woman says she got the idea to build her new home while she was sleeping. They say that sleeping on your pillow helps. It certainly does for María Ponce.
It took her three months to build the house
The 10-square-meter house is made entirely from recycled materials. It took the woman about four months to obtain the bottles and bamboo branches she would use as a guide for the construction. Once she had the materials in her possession, she got to work. For three months, the time it took to build the house, she painted all the bottles by hand and made the walls, floor, and ceiling of what she would later call home. The place, which María named La Casa Encantada -The Enchanted House-, was built in 2005. María tells various media outlets and curious people who have come to learn the story, that she made the house herself. She says that she even used a ladder for the construction. In addition to the walls and floor, Ponce used some plastic bottles to make crafts that simulated flowers, painted them, and placed them in different parts of the house as decoration.
The house has become a symbol of resilience
After more than ten years, María Ponce’s house in El Borbollón has become a symbol of resilience and a tourist attraction. The surrounding area began to resonate, and more and more curious people came to see the plastic bottle house. Ponce has even said that people have paid her to enter and have her show them her creation.
This story is further proof that nothing is lost as long as you have the health and mental strength to move forward. María Ponce passed away in 2024 at the age of 90, 13 years after the earthquake that changed her life and that of those she met along the way.
