My Story

Zacualpa is a small but busy village in a mountain valley.  The village is inhabited by both Quiché Indians and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry). The prevalent language is Spanish.  Families in this village live in one or two room homes generally constructed of either wood or adobe.  Although many of the people are farmers, the village contains several small specialized stores, a body repair shop for buses, mechanics, plumbers and many other small-town tradesmen.   It also has a large open-air market which serves much of the area.  Even with all of this, the poverty level is very high and the children are very needy.

This is Carlos Jonatan Jimon Santiago and I hope you are doing fine when my letter reaches you. I was born on April 14, 2021 in Zacualpa, Quiche. I am 4 years old and I am in Preschool grade this year. I spend my days at home playing toy cars. I love turkeys and white color. I like to play with toy cars and my favorite food is fried chicken. I have three brothers and one sister. Three of them are registered in the Feeding Center and we walk 45 minutes along with my mother to arrive there. Sometimes, we travel by a moto-taxi (tuk-tuk). Thanks to God, my whole family and I are doing fine. I live under my parents’ care and my father`s name is Carlos Jimon Morente. He sustains the family by digging sand from a nearby river to sell while my mother Magdalena Santiago Simaj dedicates her time to looking after the family. Sometimes she washes clothing for others. When she works, my younger siblings go with her. We are a humble family and our frequent needs are groceries. Thankfully, we believe in God and we persevere in the Prince of Peace Christian Church.

We live in my parents’ house. We have two rooms and one kitchen. The rooms are made of adobe walls, tile roof and dirt floors. We do not have water, so we buy some barrels with a neighbor. We have electricity and my father pays for the service monthly. We have pigs at home, and because we have space in the house, we would like to have some chicks. Well, this was my personal information and thank you for taking the time to read it. Many blessings to you!

Strong hugs,

Carlos Jonatan Jimon Santiago

Translated by:  Gladys Chavez / A-A-C Secretary-Antigua