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 Quiche, 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 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 Jose Armando Xol Quino, and I am writing this letter with my mother’s help. I am 6 years old, and I was born on February 3, 2019. I am in good health, and I am in kindergarten this year. I enjoy playing toy cars in my free time. My favorite color is green, and I like dogs. I enjoy eating fried chicken. I only have one brother, and he is also registered at the feeding program. My mother accompanies us to the program, and we usually walk for 10 minutes to arrive there. We are a humble family, and our frequent needs are clothes.

My father’s name is Jose Armando Xol Caal, and he works in a grocery store in Guatemala City; he comes home every month and stays with us for one week. My mother’s name is Hilda Quino Portuguez, and she is a housewife. She raises hens and grows herbs and coriander for selling. My whole family is in good health, and we are attending a Methodist Church. We live in our own house, and we share it with my maternal grandmother, Paula. The house has three rooms and a kitchen, and it is made of concrete blocks and tin sheets with a tin sheet roof and ceramic floor. We have electricity, and we get the water from a river; it is 5 minutes far away, and we use a hose to bring it home. We have hens, sheep, goats and pigs at home. This is all for now. May God bless you!

Sincerely yours

Jose Armando Xol Quino

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio, AAC Secretary-Antigua