My Story

Jocotenango, where your child lives, is in the state of Sacatepéquez, Guatemala and is a suburb of Antigua.  It is an urban environment and is inhabited by both Quiché Indians and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry).  Most of the children attend school, but financial hardship affects many families and forces most of the children to leave after the sixth grade.  Only one out of ten children finishes high school.  Children in this area face temptations from gangs and drugs.

Hello, my name is Isac Jacob Paz Pichilla. I was born on August 06, 2010 and I am 11 years old. My father’s name is Milton Jacob Lopez Orellana, but he does not legally recognized me and only contributed for my needs until I was one year old and a half. Now, he only sometimes comes to visit me. My mother’s name is Eluvia Oralia Paz Pichilla, and she works as a personal auxiliary nurse or in hospitals; she also sometimes works as a cook. I have three brothers, and they are from different fathers. My mother only receives money from one of them but it is occasionally because he is an alcoholic person and there are times that he stops working due to his vice.

At the beginning of August of last year, my mother got Covid-19 at her works. She was working as a maid and nurse for an old man, and sadly, he passed away due to this virus. There are times that she suffers from headaches and stomach upset and she thinks they are sequels from the virus. At the end of the same month, my oldest brother got Covid-19 at his girlfriend’s house and brought it to my house and I got it too. We were in quarantine for fifteen days and we lost the sense of smell. My brother has been having stomach and physical discomfort and I sometimes have physical tiredness. In spite of this, we are all fine, and thank God, my other two brothers did not get the virus. We are not attending church but we watch the mass on TV

We live in a proper house and we have two rooms and one kitchen. The rooms are made of concrete block and tin sheets with a tin sheet roof and concrete floor while our kitchen is all made of tin sheets. Our rooms’ roof is a little damaged and it affects us in winter. We share the running water and electricity with our relatives who live next to us, and we divide these bills every month. I am in third grade this year and I am receiving classes online twice a week. I help my mother with the household chores and play soccer in my free time. I love green color and cats. I have two cats and three dogs as pets. My favorite food is a traditional dish called “pepian”. I usually walked for about 15 minutes to arrive to the feeding program, but due to the pandemic, the program had to close its doors. This is my personal information, and I hope you can find it interesting.

With much love

Isac Jacob Paz Pichilla

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio/AAC Secretary, Antigua