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. 

I greet you in Jesus’ name hoping you are doing well. My name is Santa Maria Gutierrez Garcia, and I want to share a little about me. I live in a small village with my parents and siblings. Thankfully, we are all in good health. My parents are Manuel Gutierrez Simaj and Maria Garcia Ajqui. My father works in his own green tomato crops and my mother helps him with them; she also does the that he have an appendix surgery, but he does not want to do it, and in addition, he does not have the resources to cover it. I have three brothers and four sisters, and two of them are part of the feeding program too; we walk for 1 hour and 30 minutes to arrive there. At the moment, my family and I are not attending a church.   

I was born on November 4, 2015, so I am 9 years old. I am attending 2nd grade this year, and in my free time, I like playing with stuffed animals. I love eating fried chicken, and my favorite color is yellow. I like the rabbit; it is a beautiful animal. I open my heart to you and I tell you that my father has two families and both families live in the same house. Our house is made of adobe with a tin sheet roof and concrete floor, and it has two rooms and one kitchen. We have electricity service, but we get water from a spring; we use jars to bring it home. We have hens and sheep as domestic animals. I come from a humble family and our frequent needs are groceries. Well, this is my little letter and I hope you find it interesting.  

With much love  

Santa Maria Gutierrez Garcia 

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio, AAC Secretary-Antigua