My Story

Chixocol, where your child lives, is a very small village nestled in a mountain valley in the state of Quiché, Guatemala. Life in this state is very difficult and somewhat isolated from the outside world. Most families live in one-room adobe houses with dirt floors and a small, attached kitchen. The extremely poor live in houses made of corn stalks. In the past few years electricity and water have become available to most people in the area - however, indoor plumbing is very rare. Most of the families are farmers or shepherds and live off the fruits of their labors. Public education is available for those who can afford it and consider it of value. Life in Quiché is always a challenge.

It is a wonderful day to say hello to you and introduce myself through Living Water! My name is Darvin Fernando Eliseo Riz Gomez. My birthday is on November 17, 2014. I will turn 12 years old this year. I am in fifth grade this year. My hobbies are coloring and drawing. The meal I love the most is steak. I like animals, but my favorite is the cat; in fact, we have one. My favorite color is red. I live with my mom and one brother. Elena Riz Gomez is my mother. She is a housewife and raises hens and pigs to sell. Additionally, she washes clothes with our neighbors to get more income. She is a single mother. Unfortunately, my biological father abandoned her when he found out about the pregnancy. So, my mother struggles to provide for our needs. Sometimes my grandparents help us with the expenses, but it is only occasionally. My grandpa does not have a formal job.

My family and I attend a Methodist Church in our village. I am thankful to God because my family and I are in good health. We are living in my maternal grandfather´s house, and my aunts are living there too. There are two adobe rooms with a tile roof, and a dirt floor. The kitchen is separate. We have running water but no electricity. The water is a yearly payment, and we use candles to see at night. As a family, our greatest needs are groceries, corn, and firewood. The most needed is electricity service at home, so I would like to ask for your prayers that we can get the service very soon. I am so blessed to be enrolled in the feeding program, and I arrive there by car in 20 minutes. I attend alongside a cousin. Thank you so much for your beautiful heart for the people in Guatemala like me. Every kind of blessing over you!

Warm hugs,

Darvin Fernando Eliseo Riz Gomez

Translated by: Violeta Hernandez, A-A-C Secretary-Antigua