My parents' house in Caracas, Venezuela, was built by my father. Just as you say, he would come home from work and stay up until ten o'clock at night to continue the work. Before he passed away in 2002, the house had been converted into 5 complete flats and a garage for 5 vehicles, a large basement and about fifty square metres of land where there are now mango and avocado trees.

The house I live in here in Ontario is a second home, but in good condition and with the help of neighbours we did general maintenance in certain areas that needed it. I finished paying for it five years ago, and for the moment it is the inheritance I will leave to my son Matthew.

My brother Henry's children, for example, are not even able to connect a light bulb to their socket, for fear of electricity, but Gilda, the youngest, who is twenty years old, is the one who is studying law at the Central University of Venezuela.

Two to one, I always tell my brother. Two men who do nothing (aged 28 and 34 respectively) against a girl who knows how to defend herself and is self-sufficient.