My Story

Hello! I feel so happy to share with you a little about me. I hope you are receiving many blessings from our Lord. I am Estefany Noemi Orellana, and I am thirteen years old. This year, I am in the fourth grade, and I am attending school once per week. The teachers assign me study guides to do at home. I like to do my homework, and I am doing my best effort in my studies every day. Sadly, my biological father died years ago. My mother does the housework. She was fired from her job due to the pandemic and now, she is looking for a new one. My stepfather is living with us, and he works as a trash collector. The thing I missed from the feeding program was the food. I walk about twenty minutes to attend the program. Fortunately, we have been receiving groceries from the feeding program, and it has helped us a lot because my mom does not have a job.

We spend good time as a family when we go out to walk or we go out to the park. On Christmas, we try to have ¨tamales and ponche¨ (typical dish and hot fruit drink) because it is the tradition. At the moment, we are not attending a church. We live in a rented house, and it is made of block and tin sheet walls, tin sheet roof and concrete floor. There is running water and electricity. We have one room, and we cook in the same room. We pray to God for our necessities. Our needs are food, school fees, payments and job. Thank God, we are in good health. The pandemic affected us at the beginning because there was less work and less food. I want you to know that my mother gave this information about me. I send you a strong hug. May God bless you and take care of you always!

Kind regards,

Estefany Noemi Orellana

Translated by: Esther Hernández, AAC Secretary/Antigua