My Story

Chuchuca, where your child lives, is an area located high on the side of a mountain in the state of Quiché, Guatemala. Life in this area is very difficult and very isolated from the outside world. It is more than a two-hour walk to the nearest market town of Zacualpa. Chuchuca is a farming area where corn and black beans, the staple elements in their diet, are the major crops. The Quiché Indians who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak an Indian 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! My name is Irma Ermelinda Pastor Benito. My birthdate is June 6, 2017, which makes me 7 years of age now. This year I am in second grade at school. I enjoy playing with my dolls. I love sheep and my favorite color is blue. The food I love is eggs, beans and rice. I live happily with my parents, two brothers and three sisters. By the grace of God, my mother, siblings and I are healthy but sadly my father can't hear. He lost his hearing from a fall he had from a tree when he was a child.  He struggles a lot working as a farmer. His name is Oscar Anibal Pastor Gomez. My mother´s name is Antonia Benito Sac. Sometimes she works washing clothes for other people. My family and I are members from the Catholic Church.

Thanks to God, we live in our own house. We have one room and a kitchen.  It is made of adobe walls, tin sheet roof and dirt floor. We do not have running water or electricity. We use a solar panel to get light and we get water from the river. We also have some hens, sheep and pigs. We are a family with many needs at home. Some of them are groceries, and we need to change the roof on our house. It is very old and deteriorated. Three of my siblings are enrolled in the feeding program too and we are very happy to be part of it. We walk around one hour to get there. I am so grateful to you for taking your time to read a little bit of my history.

Big hugs,

Irma Ermelinda Pastor Benito

Translated by: Magnolia De Torres / A-A-C Secretary-Antigua Guatemala