My Story

Chuchuca, where your child lives, is an area located high on the side of a mountain in the state of Quiché, Guatemala. Life in this area is very difficult and very isolated from the outside world. It is more than a two-hour walk to the nearest market town of Zacualpa. Chuchuca is a farming area where corn and black beans, the staple elements in their diet, are the major crops. The Quiché Mayans who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak a Mayan dialect called Quiché - however, Spanish is becoming more common. Very little money ever changes hands in this area as they live on a barter system.

Hello! I am Martin Sebastian Calachij Garcia. My birthdate is November 16, 2017, which makes me 6 years of age now. I am not attending school this year, but maybe next year I will go. For now, I enjoy playing with toy cars in my free time. The color blue is my favorite one, and the animal I like the most is the sheep. The meal I love is fried chicken. Thankfully, my family and I are healthy. I have three sisters and two brothers. My father is Benito Calachij Franco. He struggles to supply our needs by working as a farmer, and he also goes to cut sugar cane on the coast from April to November. My mother is Josefa Garcia Garcia. Most of the time she is busy with the chores at home, and she raises hens.

We attend Church of Christ. We own the house in which we live; there are three adobe rooms with a tin sheet roof and a floor that is just dirt. The kitchen is separated. We have running water and electricity, and my parents pay for them. For now, we are in need of groceries and beds; we trust that our Lord is our provider. I live about one hour away from the feeding program. This time the Living Water staff collected this information personally for the record, and my mother Josefa Garcia provided it. Sending much love. May God bless you!

Bunch of hugs,

Martin Sebastian Calachij Garcia

Translated by: Violeta Hernandez / A-A-C Secretary-Antigua Guatemala