My Story

Zacualpa is a small but busy village in a mountain valley. Both Quiche Mayans and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry) inhabit the village. The prevalent language is Spanish. Families in this village live in one or two-room homes usually constructed of either wood or adobe. Although many of the people are farmers, the village contains several small and specialized stores, a body repair shop for buses, mechanics, plumbers, and many other small-town tradesmen. It also has a large open-air market which serves much of the area. Even with all of this, the poverty level is extremely high, and the children are very needy.

Hello! My full name is Anderson Juan Mateo Barrera Ruiz, and I am excited to tell you a little about my life. I was born on November 8, 2015. Today, I am a healthy 8-year-old boy. I am in second grade and one of my favorite pastimes is playing soccer with my friends. My favorite color is blue, I like cats, and my favorite food is roasted chicken. The people who I live with are my parents and siblings. I have one brother and two sisters. My father is Alfredo Barrera Velasco. He makes a living as a mason while my mother keeps busy doing the housework. My mother's name is Miriam Ruiz de la Cruz. We do not attend any church at the moment. We are a low-income family. Our frequent needs are groceries and corn.

We live in a house which belongs to one of my uncles. We appreciate him because he does not charge us rent. The house is constructed of bricks, a concrete roof, and a concrete floor. It has one room, a separate kitchen, running water, and electricity. My parents pay for those services. Fortunately, we can raise hens at home for our consumption. As a family, our dream is to own a house someday. Therefore, I ask you to pray for us, so the Lord helps us to make it come true. I am glad to be part of the feeding program because it blesses me with delicious food for free. We live a little bit far from the project. My mom takes my sister and me to the project by motorcycle; it takes us 30 minutes to get to the feeding program. To end this letter, I want you to know that my mother helped me to give all this information to a teacher of the LW evangelism team. Take care of yourself!

Warm hugs,

Anderson Juan Mateo Barrera Ruiz

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary