My Story

Tunaja is a small area of the state of Quiché, Guatemala. The inhabitants are Quiché Mayans who trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. The prevalent language is the Mayani dialect - Quiché. The people are either farmers or shepherds and live off the fruits of their labors. Very little money ever changes hands as they use a barter system. Public education is available - however, most families cannot afford it. Electricity and running water are not available in most of the area. Life in Tunaja is difficult.

Hello! This is Brayan Hernandez de la Cruz. I am an 8-year-old healthy boy. My birthday is on February 21^st and I was born in 2015. I live happily with my parents, three brothers and one sister. Only one brother is registered in the feeding program as I am. My parents´ names are Teresa de la Cruz Garcia and Genaro Hernandez Mechen. They both support our family and try to cover our expenses. My father earns as a day laborer, but he sometimes works as a mason´s helper too. My mother stays at home and does the hard work, but she also improves the incomes by raising domestic animals to sell. As a family, we attend the Catholic Church. Our greatest need is food.

Thank God, my parents own a house where we live in Tunaja. It has three rooms including the separated kitchen. It has a tile roof, adobe walls and dirt floors. We have the main services such as electricity and running water, and my father is in charge of paying for them. Our domestic animals are chickens. I feel blessed to attend the feeding program and I usually walk for 40 minutes to be there.

Lastly, I want to share some information about my tastes. In my free time, I like playing football and toy cars. My favorite color is blue. I love eating fried chicken and my favorite animal is the dog. This year, I am attending 2^nd grade at school and I am not repeating. Well, I hope you find this information interesting. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I look forward to hearing from you. Take care!

Best regards from now on,

Brayan Hernandez de la Cruz

Translated by: Mireya de Sadoval, AAC Secretary / Antigua