My Story

Pasojoc III, where your child lives, is located in an extremely remote area of the mountains in Quiche, Guatemala.  Life in this area is very difficult and very isolated from the outside world. It is a 3-hour walk to the nearest market town.  The people who inhabit the area are Quiche Mayans who can trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization.  They normally speak a Mayan dialect called Quiche; however, Spanish is becoming more common.  The climate is basically warm, but it can get very cold at night.  Houses in this area are typically constructed of adobe with tin sheet or tile roofs and dirt floors.  Pasojoc III is an area rich with natural resources.  It is a farming area where the inhabitants grow staples such as corn, beans and other types of vegetables. Many families also raise domestic animals such as sheep, goats, cows and chickens.

Hello, my name is Ricardo Hernadez Calachij. I was born on March 26, 2020, and I am 4 years old. I am a healthy boy. I am not attending school due to my young age. I spend my days playing with toy cars at home and going with my brothers to shepherd the goats. My favorite color is red, and I love rabbits. I enjoy eating fried chicken. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Three of them are part of the Feeding Program. I want to tell you that I walk to the program in about one hour along with my mother.  We are attending the Catholic Church. I am under the care of my parents. My father`s name is Marcos Hernandez Alonzo. He works as a farmer, and he travels to the coast from April to September to cut sugar cane in order to support my family financially. Moreover, he and the whole family travel to the coast from November to March to pick coffee beans in order to earn some money to cover our financial needs. My father is a healthy man. My mother’s name is Magdalena Calachij Garcia. She is in good health. She is a housewife. In addition, she raises domestic animals.

We live in my father`s house. The house has two rooms and one separated kitchen. Our house is made of wood, tin sheet roof and dirt floors. We do not have running water and we get it from a nearby river.  We use candles at night because we do not have electricity. As a humble family, our current needs are a sink to wash the clothes and to fix the wood walls of the house which are damaged. We have hens, goats and pigs at home, and we would like to have some chicks because we have enough space in the house. This is my personal information, and I hope you like to read it. My mother gave this information to the LW evangelism team. I send you all my love!

Lots of love,

Ricardo Hernandez Calachij

Translated by:  Gladys Chavez / A-A-C Secretary-Antigua