My Story

Hello, my name is Petronila Ruiz Bartolo. I was born on July 2, 1940. I am 84 years old. I live in a village called Cuatro Caminos. I am a widow; my husband passed away four years ago. His name was Francisco Morente. We had 7 children, 5 boys and two girls, and all of them are adults. I am a member of the Methodist Church. About my health, by the grace of God, I am in good health. Sadly, I cannot work due to my age, but I raise sheep and hens with the help of my daughter Magdalena. I live with her, my great-granddaughter Gladys, my granddaughter, her husband Jeremias and her baby. The only one who has a job is my granddaughter`s husband. He covers the expenses of all the family. He works as a farmer and when he doesn't find work in the village, he travels to the coast to cut coffee or work the land of the coffee plantations. Five of my seven children give me Q20.00 = $2.60 or Q30.00 = $3.90 from time to time. One of them visits me one time a year and gives me Q200.00 = $26.02. We live in a very small house. It has only one room and a kitchen. All the family sleeps in one room. We just have two beds, so, we have to share them. My granddaughter, her husband and her baby sleep in one bed, and my daughter Magdalena, her daughter and I sleep in the other bed. It's very uncomfortable but we have no other choice.

The house is made of adobe walls, tin sheet roof and concrete and dirt floor. We do not have running water, so we obtain it from the creek. We do not have our own electricity, but fortunately, we live beside our church and they sell us the electricity. We share the payment with the church. One month they pay the electricity and the other month we pay it. We pay Q75.00 = $9.76.  At home, we have some animals such as sheep, hens, cats and dogs. We are a family with many needs and some of them are: corn, groceries, beds, clothes, shoes and a wardrobe.  I ask for your prayers for God to help me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my letter. I am sending many blessings.

In the name of Jesus,

Petronila Ruiz Bartolo

Translated by: Magnolia Gomez, AAC Secretary /Guatemala.