My Story

Hello! I hope you are fine. I am writing this letter to introduce you to Juana Luis Ruiz. She was born on September 4, 2002, so she is now 21 years old. She is the 4^th of 8 children in the family. 4 of them, including Juana, are children with special needs. One of her sisters (Maria Luis) is also registered at the feeding program. Juana most of the time speaks to herself and keeps at home. She helps to do the cleaning, wash her clothes, make tortillas and feed the hens; she also goes to the corn mill. Her siblings also speak to themselves, but sometimes, they go out and their mother has to look for them on the streets: there are times that they do not turn up until the next day.

Her parents’ names are Venancio Luis and Tomasa Ruiz. Her dad earns Q45.00 quetzals ($6) per day, and he finds work three or four days per week. He works as a day laborer, and he is the only one who covers the family expenses. One of Juana’s brothers is in the United States, but he does not help the family financially since he has his own family there. The parents and five children live in the house, and it only has one room and one kitchen. The house is so small, and it is made of adobe with a tile roof and concrete floor. All the children sleep in the room while the parents sleep in the corridor; they have put nylon in the corridor to make a wall. They get the water from an artisan well and use a solar panel to have light at night. They have hens and one pig at home.

This family attends an Evangelical Church. They are a humble family and are frequently in need of groceries and clothes. She has to walk for one hour to arrive at the feeding program. We hope you find this letter interesting. May God bless you!

Cordially yours

Juana Luis Ruiz

Written by: Loyda de Osorio, AAC Secretary / Antigua