My Story

Hello! How are you? I hope you are fine. I am writing this letter to introduce you to Santos Luis Hernandez. When he was registered at RENAP (People National Register), the people in charge made a mistake and registered him with the last name “Luis Hernandez” when in fact his real one was “Luis Ruiz”; all of his siblings have Luis Ruiz as their last name. He was born on October 2, 1991, so he is now 32 years old. We would like to ask for your prayers for him since he suffers from mental retardation, and there are times that he gets violent. Also, he talks to himself, and there were times that he got out of home and his father had to look for him. Thankfully, the parents are making the effort to take him to a public hospital where he is now under a medical control. It has helped him with his violence episodes and leaving home. The father worries because he has to pay Q100.00 quetzals ($14) for fare every time they go to the hospital, and there are buses that do not want to take them because Santos screams a lot.

The parents do not have any health or mental problem, but six of their children, including Santos, suffer from a kind of mental retardation; they do not have an exact diagnosis. They have eight children in total. Another son, also named Santos, has a normal life and he works as a day laborer to help them financially. Their other son is in the United States, but he barely supports them because he already has his own family. The father, Venancio Luis Cux, works as a day laborer and farmer three days per week, and he earns Q900.00 quetzales ($120) per month. He tries to cover all the family needs, but the money is not enough. The mother, Tomasa Ruiz, only works at home because she has to look after her six special children. They have hens and pigs at home. The family attends Sovereign King Church, and they walk for 30 minutes to arrive there.

They live in their own house made of adobe with a tile roof and concrete floor. They get water from a well, and they use torches, candles and flashlights at night since they do not have electricity. The house is small and only has one room and the kitchen, so Santos and his six siblings sleep in the room, and his parents have improvised a room in the corridor; they made it with nylon so the water comes in during the rainy season.  It is a very humble family, and they are frequently in need of corn, groceries, and clothes; they also need beds. The feeding program is one hour away from their house. We thank you for taking the time to read Santos’ information. May God bless you!

With much love

Santos Luis Hernandez

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio, AAC Secretary/Antigua