My Story

Cuatro Caminos "four roads", where your child lives, is an area located high on the side of a mountain in the state of Quiché, Guatemala. Life is this area is very difficult and very isolated from the outside world. It is a two hour walk to the nearest market town of Zacualpa. Cuatro Caminos is a farming area where corn and black beans, the staple elements in their diet, are the major crops. The Quiché Mayans who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak a Mayan dialect called Quiché - however, Spanish is becoming more common. Very little money ever changes hands in this area as they live on a barter system.

Hello! I am very happy to introduce myself and share a little about my life. My name is Victor Manuel De la Cruz Garcia. I was born on June 18th, 2013, so I am now 11 years old. As for me, let me tell you I do not attend school because I have some mental problems and vision problems. Due to our limited resources, I have not visited a doctor. Besides that, I am doing well. I love playing with toy cars. My favorite color is blue and I like dogs. The meals I like the  only with my father. My father´s name is Manuel De La Cruz Riz. My mother was Rosa Garcia Ruiz. Unfortunately, she passed away when I was six months old; she died due to an illness and my father did not know exactly what happened with her.

We have faced difficulties in our lives since my father is not able to work due to his health condition. Sadly, he started with a problem in his body some years ago and he lost the strength to walk by himself. He does not have pain in his arms or legs but his body starts shaking which makes it hard to walk or work. Now, he uses crutches to go outside. In the past, he visited a doctor and he was diagnosed with an undefined neurological problem. We live thanks to the mercy of God and kind people who bless us with some food when we go to walk in the street.

The house in which we live belongs to Mr. Camilo. He is very kind to us because he does not ask for any money to allow us to live there. There are two adobe rooms with a tin sheet roof and a concrete floor. There is a separated kitchen. There is electricity service and Mr. Camilo pays for it, but there is no running water. A kind neighbor shares water with us. There is no bathroom and we do our physical needs outside the house. We do not have a bed and we sleep on the floor. So, our greatest needs are a bed, clothes, footwear and groceries. We live 15 minutes away from the feeding program by bus; even though we need to pay for transportation, we like to attend. We attend a Christian Church. Thank you for reading my information and I would like to hear from you very soon. May our almighty God bless you in each area of your life!

Hugs and much love,

Victor Manuel De la Cruz Garcia

Translated by: Violeta Hernandez, AAC Secretary / Antigua