My Story

Jocotenango, where your child lives, is in the state of Sacatepequez, Guatemala and is a suburb of Antigua. It is an urban environment and is inhabited by both Quiche Mayans and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry). Most of the children attend school, but financial hardship affects many families and forces most of the children to leave after the sixth grade. Only one out of ten children finish high school. Children in this area face temptations from gangs and drugs.

It is a pleasure to greet you and write this biography. Thank you for stopping and taking the time to read about me. I am Johan Alexander Roquel Garcia. I was born on February 17, 2020. My mother’s name is Silvia Lorena Garcia Ruiz. She works as an in-home assistant in our town. She works hard to provide for our family and cover all of our expenses. She is a single mom, because my dad abandoned us right after I was born. His name is Luis Alfredo Roquel Agustin. Unfortunately, we do not know much about him, and he does not help us financially. I have one brother and three sisters who are all in the program as well, except for one of my sisters. We go to church together at Bethesda Church in our town.

We live in a town called Chimaltenango in Guatemala. It is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from the program by bus. We love going to the program each week. My favorite food is a dish called Pepian. It is a very typical dish in Guatemala. I do not go to school yet, because I am still young, but I will start soon. Some things I love to do are playing soccer outside and skateboarding. My favorite color is red, and my favorite animal is a cat, but we do not have any cats. We have one pet dog. We rent our house for Q1,200 each month. That is about $156 USD. We have two rooms and a small kitchen. The house is made of cinderblock with a tin metal roof and a concrete floor. We are very grateful for the blessings God has given us. He has blessed us with good health, and my mom is so grateful for the feeding program and everything that we receive through Living Water Adopt-A-child. Even though it is far away from where we live, we always go because we know God is working through this program, and it has been a huge support and blessing for us. I hope you have enjoyed reading my information. It is a blessing to know someone may want to know about me. I send you much love and I pray God will bless you and touch your heart to support the people of Guatemala. 

With much love,

Johan Alexander Roquel Garcia

Translated by: Olivia Gallardo, Missionary Intern / Antigua