My Story

Zacualpa is a small but busy village in a mountain valley. Both Quiche Mayans and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry) inhabit the village. The prevalent language is Spanish. Families in this village live in one or two-room homes usually constructed of either wood or adobe. Although many of the people are farmers, the village contains several small and 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 extremely high, and the children are very needy.

Hello! It is a great pleasure to tell you a little about my life. My full name is Leidy Paola Coj Chingo, and I was born on February 17, 2016. Today, I am a healthy 8-year-old girl. I am in first grade again, and my favorite pastime is playing hide-and-seek with my friends and siblings. I have one brother and two sisters. My favorite color is purple and I enjoy eating hard eggs. I like domestic animals, but my favorite one is the rabbit. I live with my mother, stepfather, and siblings. My mother is Ana Maria Chingo Garcia. She works as a day laborer to contribute at home with her income. My stepfather is Tereso Garcia. He makes a living as a farmer to help our family economically. As for my biological father, let me tell you that he separated from my mom a long time ago. However, he helps me with a little money every month. His name is Leonel Coj Hernandez, and he works as a farmer. 

My family and I are members of the Catholic Church. I beg you to pray for my older brother Jeremias Antonio because he was born with hydrocephalus. Despite his condition, he is doing well, thank the Lord. We are a low-income family and most of our greatest needs are groceries. We are grateful to one of my uncles because he allows us to live at his house for free. It is made of tin sheets with dirt floors. It only has one room, so we use it to sleep and store our goods. We built an improvised kitchen in the hallway. Fortunately, it has electricity and running water. We pay for the first service monthly and the second annually. My family and I raise chickens at home for our consumption. I am glad because the feeding program is near my house. It is a 5-minute tuk-tuk ride from where I live. I will leave you now, but I want you to know that my mom helped me to give all this information to a teacher of the LW evangelism team so you could hear about me. See you later!

With much love,

Leidy Paola Coj Chingo

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary