My Story

Cuatro Caminos "four roads", where your child lives, is an area located high on the side of a mountain in the state of Quiché, Guatemala.  Life is this area is very difficult and very isolated from the outside world.  It is a two hour walk to the nearest market town of Zacualpa.  Cuatro Caminos is a farming area where corn and black beans, the staple elements in their diet, are the major crops.  The Quiché Indians who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization.  They normally speak an Indian dialect called Quiché - however, Spanish is becoming more common.  Very little money ever changes hands in this area as they live on a barter system.

Hello! I am Neymar Emerson Garcia Morente and I am so happy to share with you a little about me. I was born on October 16, 2013 and I am eight years old. I attend the Cuatro Caminos feeding program. I am in good health. I have three brothers and one sister. I am studying in the first grade at school. I go to school twice per week to receive classes. I enjoy playing toy cars and football. My favorite color is blue and my favorite animal is the rabbit. My favorite meal is fried chicken.  My family and I attend a group that belongs to the Catholic Church. My father´s name is Jose Garcia Chingo, and my mother´s name is Elvira Morente Riz. My father works as a day laborer in Guatemala City, and occasionally, he comes to visit us and give us money to cover the home expenses. My mother does the household chores. She raises hens and has a cow. We have our own house which is made of boards, tin sheet roof and dirt floor. We have one room and one kitchen. The kitchen is made of tin sheet. We have electricity. We do not have running water, so we get it from a hose because we have streams near our house. My siblings and I attend the feeding program, and we walk about forty-five minutes to arrive.

Blessings and much love,

Neymar Emerson Garcia Morente

Translated by: Esther Hernández, AAC Secretary/Antigua