My Story

Chuchuca, where your child lives, 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. Chuchuca 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.

Greetings and many blessings! I hope you are well along with your loved ones. I want to thank you for taking the time to read my information. My name is Pedro Josue Hernandez Rodriguez. I was born on November 1st, 2017, and I am 8 years old. I was born in Zacualpa, in a village called Chojlomquiej. I live with my mother, seven brothers and 3 sisters. My father´s name is Felix Hernandez Simaj, but sadly he abandoned us three years ago. We do not have communication with him nor does he help us economically. My mother´s name is Basilia Rodriguez Hernandez.  She weaves typical blouses, typical sashes and sells them to earn money to cover our expenses. We are members of the Assembly of God Church, and thanks to God, we are a healthy family.  We live in a rental house. My mother pays 300.00Q = $39.14 Per month. It has one room and we don't have a kitchen; we cook in a place with a tin sheet roof but no walls. The room is made of tin sheet roof, tin sheet walls and dirt floor. We do not have running water or electricity. By the grace of God, a neighbor shares the water with us, and we do not pay anything. To light the house, we use candles. We do not raise domestic animals. As you can see, we are many children, and for my mother, it is very difficult to cover all our expenses, but she struggles a lot to give us the necessities. One of our greatest needs is groceries.

The feeding program is a great blessing for us because we can receive a plate of food every week and we can participate in the different activities like biblical classes. We walk around 25 minutes to get there. I want to tell you that I am in first grade at school. I am repeating my grade. My favorite color is blue, my favorite animal is the sheep, and I love to eat beans with sausages. I hope you liked my letter. May God bless you and keep you always!

With much love

Pedro Josue Hernandez Rodriguez

Translated by: Magnolia Gómez / AAC Secretary-Guatemala