My Story

Pasojoc is an area located high on the side of a mountain in the state of Quiche, 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. Pasojoc is a farming area where corn and black beans, the staple elements in their diet, are the major corps. The Quiche Mayans who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak a Mayan dialect called Quiche - 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 so glad to greet you and wish you many blessings in everything you do. Today, I want to share with you some news about my family and me. My name is Ervin Cristian Garcia Garcia.  I am in good health, and I turned 11 years old on March 19^th. I am repeating 3^rd grade this year, and I am doing my best to pass it. I love playing soccer in my free time. My favorite meal is fried chicken, I love rabbits, and I like the color green. I have four brothers and two sisters. Two of them are also registered at the feeding program, so we go together, and we walk 40 minutes to get there. 

Thankfully, my father is in good health; he is in the United States since about 5 years ago. He earns a living by working with cattle in the dairy area, and he supports us economically every 20 days. My mother works very hard at home, doing the chores, taking care of us, and she also raises domestic animals like hens, pigs and turkeys to sell to improve our income. She suffers from gastritis. She is under medical treatment, but I need you to pray for her, so she can be better.  As a family, we attend the Catholic Church. We live in our paternal grandparents’ house; they and our uncles live here too, so we share the home expenses and payments for the services with them. It has three rooms, a separate kitchen, running water and electricity. The walls are made of adobe and tin sheets, it has a tin sheet roof and dirt floor. One of our desires is to have our own house someday, so we pray to God for it, and we have the certainty that He will hear our prayers and will help us to make it real. My mother gave this information to the Evangelism team when she enrolled me. It was so nice for me to share this with you, so you can get to know me better, I hope you like my letter, and I will be waiting to hear from you soon. 

With much love,

Ervin Cristian Garcia Garcia,

Translated by: Luisa Reyes de Solis, A-A-C Secretary/Antigua