My Story

Jocotenango, where your child lives, is in the state of Sacatepéquez, Guatemala and is a suburb of Antigua.  It is an urban environment and is inhabited by both Quiché Indians and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry).  Most of the children attend school, but financial hardship affects many families and forces most of the children to leave after the sixth grade.  Only one out of ten children finishes high school.  Children in this area face temptations from gangs and drugs.

Hello, my name is Melvin Josue Arita Balan. I was born on November 09, 2007 and I am 14 years old. I am a healthy boy. My father’s name is Mynor Josue Arita Gonzalez and he does not have a stable job. He usually collects firewood on the mountains to sell it in the town, and he sometimes works as a day laborer. My mother’s name is Carla Patricia Balan Patzan, and she is a housewife; she sometimes earns some money doing the laundry of others or she goes to the mountain with my father. I only have one sister. We do not have an own house or piece of land, so my parents saw themselves in need of encroaching a piece of land; now when the owner will appear, we will have to evict it. My parents have built one room and one kitchen, and they are from tin sheets with a dirt floor. We do not have running water and electricity, so one of our neighbors provides us these services; we pay him a monthly amount for them.

I am in fifth grade this year and I am receiving study guides and delivering my homework to the teacher every Monday. I play soccer and watch TV in my free time. I love green and blue colors, and I like the lions. My favorite food are pizza and flan. I have one cat, two dogs, and one rabbit as pets. I usually walked 1 hour and a half to arrive to the feeding program, but it had to close its doors due to the pandemic. We are not attending church due to the virus but we sometimes watch the mas on TV. Thank God, none of my family or close relatives has gotten Covid-19, and we are all healthy. This is my personal information, and I hope you can find it interesting.

With much love

Melvin Josue Arita Balan

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio/AAC Secretary, Antigua