My Story

Zacualpa is a small but busy village in a mountain valley. The village is inhabited by both Quiché Mayans and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry). The prevalent language is Spanish. Families in this village live in one or two room homes generally constructed of either wood or adobe. Although many of the people are farmers, the village contains several small, specialized stores, a body repair shop for buses, mechanics, plumbers and many other small-town tradesmen. It also has a large open-air market which serves much of the area. Even with all of this, the poverty level is very high, and the children are very needy.

Hello! My name is Jimena Isabela Quino Garcia and I hope you like my information. I was born on February 16, 2013. I am a healthy girl and I love playing freeze tag. I attend school as a third grader and my favorite color is pink. I enjoy eating fried chicken, and my favorite animals are sheep. I live with my mother and siblings. I have one brother and two sisters. Unfortunately, my father separated from my mother some years ago. His name is Fernando Garcia Gomez. He has another family, but he still keeps in touch with us. He makes a living as a tuk-tuk driver and helps us economically every week. My mother is a hardworking housewife who washes clothes for other people to cover our needs. Her name is Hilda Quino Calachij.

My family and I attend Prince of Peace Church. We live in our own house; it belongs to my mother. It has one room with a separate kitchen. The walls and roofs are made of tin sheets with dirt floors. There are no services at home, but we can get water from a nearby spring. To see at night, we use candles. My mother does her best for our family, but her income is not enough. Some of our greatest needs are groceries and education. We use firewood at home, so my brother, Juan Arnoldo, and my mother go to the forest to look for it. When my siblings and I go to the feeding program, we usually walk for one hour from our house to get there. I will leave you now, but I want you to know that my mother helped me to give all this information to a teacher of LW. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter! I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Jimena Isabela Quino Garcia

Translated by: Hillary Popol / AAC Secretary / Antigua Guatemala