My Story

Zacualpa is a small but busy village in a mountain valley. Both Quiche Mayans and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry) inhabit the village. The prevalent language is Spanish. Families in this village live in one or two-room homes usually constructed of either wood or adobe. Although many of the people are farmers, the village contains several small and 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. Even with all of this, the poverty level is extremely high, and the children are very needy.

Hello! This is your friend Yobani Quinilla Garcia, and I will tell you a little about my life. Before starting, I want you to know that my mother helped me to give all this information to a teacher of the LW evangelism team. I was born on May 19, 2015, so I am 9 years old. Today, I attend school as a second grader. My favorite color is maroon and I enjoy playing soccer with my friends. My favorite food is fried eggs with tomato sauce. I like domestic animals, but my favorite one is the cat. Now, I will tell you about my family. I have four sisters, but no brothers. My father is Miguel Quinilla Xirum. Unfortunately, he abandoned our family many years ago. He does not help us economically because he has serious problems with alcohol. We have heard he lives with his relatives and works as a farmer. Therefore, my mother works hard to support our family economically. Her name is Gregoria Garcia Ruiz, and she earns Q25=$3.23 daily as a domestic employee.

The house where we live belongs to one of my uncles. He does not charge us for rent, but we help him to pay for the electricity because he shares that service with us. One of my aunts and her child also live with us. We share one room and the kitchen with them. Those are made of tin sheets with dirt floors. We do not have running water at home, so we buy this vital liquid from a water truck every 15 days. Fortunately, we have enough space to raise one pig and two turkeys at home. We are a needy family, and most of our needs are groceries. One of our greatest dreams is to have our own house, so I beg you to pray for this. In advance, thank you so much! The feeding program is a one-hour walk from where I live. I praise the Lord for blessing me with warm food for free through this project. As for our spiritual life, let me tell you that we are members of a Christian Church. I say goodbye to you now, but I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Special regards,

Yobani Quinilla Garcia

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary