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 in 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 Mayans who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak a Mayan 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! My name is Alexander Eliseo Benito Ajqui. I am in good health condition. I am 6 years old, and I was born on September 17, 2017. I am not attending school yet. I like to play with toy cars. My favorite color is blue. I like dogs, and the meal I enjoy eating is fried chicken. I want you to know that I have two brothers and one sister, and they are also registered at the feeding program; we enjoy attending there and walk 25 minutes to be there. Sadly, my biological father, Venancio Benito Riz, abandoned us two years ago since he left with another woman. Since that time, my mother has been struggling to cover our needs because he does not help us economically nor has communication with us. My mother is Petrona Ajqui Morente; she is working in a tortilla business in a town called Joyabaj; she stays there and comes to visit us once a month. My maternal grandmother, Maria Morente Bartolo, looks after my siblings and me while our mother is working. She is a housewife and raises some domestic animals like hens.

The house where we live belongs to my maternal uncle, Juan Carlos Ajqui. My grandfather and other uncles also live there. It is made of adobe walls with a tin sheet roof and dirt floor. It has two rooms and a separate kitchen; we have electricity, and my uncle pays for this service every month. We do not have running water, so we carry it from a nearby river for our use. We are members of Prince of Peace Church, and we pray for God to help us to go ahead every day since we are in need of groceries, clothes and corn. My grandmother came to register me, and she provided all this information for my enrollment process. I say goodbye to you for now, and I will be waiting to hear from you soon.

Many Blessings

Alexander Eliseo Benito Ajqui

Translated by: Luisa Reyes /A-A-C Secretary/ Guatemala