My Story

ZA4393

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.

Hello! My name is Jeffri Daniel Hernandez Toj. I was born on March 21^st, 2008 and I am ten years old this year. I am in good health. I attend the Zacualpa feeding program. My father’s name is Domingo Ruiz Garcia and my mother’s name is Virginia Hernandez Toj. I only have my mother’s last name because my father went to the United States before I was born and he was not able to legally recognize me as his son, but he sends us support every month. I have two older brothers. We attend a Catholic church. I am in the first grade. In my free time, I like to play with toy balls. My favorite color is blue and my favorite animal is the duck. I love to eat fried chicken. My father works in the United States and my mother takes care of our house. We live in our own house made of cement blocks with a concrete roof. We have water and electricity. We do not travel to the coast to work like many Mayan Guatemalan families do, but we do own some domestic animals. We have chickens and dogs. My mother takes me to the feeding program each week.

With much love and many blessings

Jeffri Daniel Hernandez Toj

Translated by: Katelyn Lee/ AAC Missionary