My Story

Chulumal is a rural community on the outskirts of Chichicastenango. Mayan people are both beautiful and humble by nature. Chichicastenango is considered as one of the most important towns in Guatemala. It has a rich and long historic culture, and because of that it is considered as the home of the Quiché civilization (largest group of Mayan population). According to the 2012 census, 98.5% of the municipality's population is Mayan K'iche. 21% of the population speak only K'iche, 71% speak both K'iche and Spanish, and the remaining 8% speak only Spanish.

Hello! My name is Jeffrey Elyan Ramirez Macario and I am delighted to tell you my story. I hope you find it engaging. Before I start, let me tell you that my mom helped me to give all this information to a LW teacher. I was born on January 9, 2020. Because of my age, I do not attend school yet. I have fun playing with my toy cars. My favorite color is yellow, I love cats, and my favorite dish is vegetable soup. By God’s grace, I am in good health. The people who I live with are my mom and her parents. I am an only child. Sadly, my father abandoned us about one year ago. He already has another family. His name is Jairon Ramirez Montufar. My mom works hard as a domestic employee to support my needs. Her name is Rafaela Macario Panjoj. While she goes to work, my grandma takes care of me.

We are a Christian family and attend LW Church in Chulumal village. We live at my grandfather’s house, so my mom helps him with the household expenses. My grandpa is Tomas Macario. The house has three rooms and a separated kitchen. The walls are made of adobe with tin sheet roofs and concrete and dirt floors. Fortunately, we have electricity and running water at home. We only raise chickens and our priorities are groceries, especially corn. I usually walk 15 minutes from my house to get to the feeding program. Thank you so much for reading my letter! I hope to hear your story soon.

Many kisses and hugs,

Jeffrey Elyan Ramirez Macario

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary/Antigua Guatemala