My Story

Hello! My name is Yosilyn Esmeralda Hernandez de la Cruz, and I am pretty grateful to the Lord for writing you this letter. Happily, I want to tell you that I am a sixth-grader, and I am going to turn 12 years old in June. I receive face-to-face classes and hand in homework every day. After school, I do my tasks, and I use the internet to look for information or receive the teacher’s instructions; my parents often have to top up the phone with internet plans. Fortunately, the lack of live classes did not affect me, because last year, I had to attend school every other day which gave me enough time to do my assignments. In my free time, I help my mother to do the household chores. Let me tell you that my father continues working in a grocery store a little bit far away from our home. He helps us economically, and once a month, he visits us. On the other hand, my mother also works hard on Thursday and Sunday by selling coffee and wheat to help my father with the expenses. My parents and I live in our own house which is made of adobe with a tin sheet roof, and a concrete floor. Our home has two rooms, a separate kitchen, running water, and electricity.

I love both my parents and I like spending time with them. We usually go for a walk and enjoy a delicious snack in the afternoons. Christmas is an important and beautiful season; we only celebrate it when we have enough money. My family and I are members of the Catholic Church which is a five-minute ride by minibus. Because of the pandemic, there were many curfews in our country, and due to that, our church closed. During that time, we felt anguish because we were afraid that we would not be able to attend church anymore. Moreover, work is lower which has affected our economy because food and school supplies are expensive. Despite all the difficulties, we have been healthy. Besides that, our Heavenly Father blessed our family with food parcels that Living Water provided for us. I want to take advantage of this moment to thank you for all that you have done through Adopt a Child/Living Water. The feeding program was closed for a long time to keep us safe from the virus, but nowadays, this is opening again. The program is about a twenty-five-minute walk or ten-minute ride by bus. Finally, let me tell you that my mother gave this information to an evangelism team member to share with you my last news. I leave you for now, but please continue taking care of yourself!

With much love,

Yosilyn Esmeralda Hernandez de la Cruz

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary/Antigua