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 in 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 Quiche 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! How are you? I hope you are doing well. My name is Elena Benito Ramos. I am writing this letter to introduce myself. I am 5 years old, and my birthday is on March 25; I was born in 2020. I am in good health. I hope to be enrolled at school next year. I enjoy playing with my dolls at home. My favorite dish is the fried chicken. I love hens, and I like the color purple and blue. At the moment, I am not attending a church. I have three brothers and two sisters, and three of them are part of the feeding program too. My father’s name is Nazario Benito Riz, and he works as a mason in our town; he also goes to cut sugar cane at the coast for six months. My mother’s name is Gregoria Ramos Lopez, and she is a housewife.  

We have our own house, and it has two rooms and a kitchen. The house is made of adobe with a tin sheet roof and dirt floor. We use a hose to bring water from a stream to our home. My grandpa provides the electricity service, and my father and he take turns paying this bill. We raise hens, but they are for our consumption. We do not grow corn like other families because we do not have space for it.  I would like to ask for your prayers for my parents so that God always provides them with the resources to have corn and groceries at home. I walk for about 20 minutes to arrive at the feeding program. It was a little information about me, and I hope you like it. I pray God blesses you.  

Sincerely yours 

Elena Benito Ramos 

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio, AAC Secretary-Antigua