My Story

Pasojoc is an area located high on the side of a mountain in the state of Quiche, Guatemala. Life in this area is very difficult and very isolated from the outside world. It is more than a two-hour walk to the nearest market town of Zacualpa. Pasojoc is a farming area where corn and black beans, the staple elements in their diet, are the major crops. The Quiche Mayans who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak a Mayan dialect called Quiche - however, Spanish is becoming more common. Very little money ever changes hands in this area as they live on a barter system.

My full name is Joel Elias de la Cruz de la Cruz and I was born in Zacualpa, Quiche on September 5 on September 05, 2019. I am a healthy six-year-old boy. I am in pre-kindergarten at school. I like blue and I love dogs. My pastime is to play soccer. My favorite meal is fried chicken. I have two brothers and three sisters. Four of them are registered in the Feeding Program and we attend together. We walk two hours from our house to arrive there. We believe in God and we attend the Charismatic Group from the Catholic Church. I am thankful because everyone in my family is doing fine. My parents live with us and they are doing their best for us. My father earns a living by working as a day laborer. In addition, he travels to the coast to pick coffee beans every end of the year in order to earn some extra money to support us financially. His name is Roel de la Cruz de la Cruz. My mother looks after us, and she raises hens and sells them when she is in need of money. We are a humble family and we are in need of groceries.

The house where we live belongs to my parents and it consists of four rooms, but we use only three and one separated kitchen. The rooms are made of adobe walls and tin sheet roofs with dirt floors. We get water from a nearby spring and we have electricity. My father and grandfather pay for the service monthly. My mother also has her hens in our house. It was a pleasure to tell you about me and I hope you like to read it. May God bless you greatly!

A bunch of kisses,

Joel Elias de la Cruz de la Cruz

Translated by: Gladys Chavez, AAC Secretary-Antigua