My Story

Zacualpa is a small but busy village in a mountain valley.  The village is inhabited by both Quiché Indians and Ladinos (those with mixed European ancestry). The prevalent language is Spanish. Families in this village live in one or two room homes generally constructed of either wood or adobe.  Although many of the people are farmers, the village contains several small, specialized stores, a body repair shop for buses, mechanics, plumbers and many other smalltown tradesmen. It also has a large open-air market which serves much of the area.  Even with all of this, the poverty level is very high, and the children are very needy.

Hello! I hope you are doing great today. My name is Victor Leonardo Alvarez Jimon. I am so happy to tell you about my life and family. Well, before starting, let me tell you that my mother gave all this information to the LW team. Her name is Santos Jimon Ajqui and my father´s is Vitalino Alvarez Ajqui. My father sustains our family by working 3 or 4 days a week as a day laborer or farmer. Meanwhile, my mother does the hard housework and takes care of us. She also goes with my father to work as a day laborer to improve the income. I have two brothers and two sisters. Three of them are enrolled in the program for the first time like me. We usually go together with my mother to the program. We walk for one hour, then take the bus for 20 minutes to arrive there.

Talking about me, I am 9 years old. I was born on March 10, 2015. I am a healthy boy. I attend the 3^rd grade at school this year. My hobby is playing with toy cars. I like black, and my favorite animal is the bull. I like eating egg cake. My family attends the Catholic Church. Our greatest necessities as a family are food and clothes. Fortunately, my whole family is in good health. We live in a humble house made of adobe and block walls, tile and tin sheet roof and cemented floor. The house belongs to my mother, and she shares it with her parents. It has three rooms and a separate kitchen. Our neighbor owns a natural water source and gives us permission to get water. It is located 3 to 5 minutes away from home. My parents do not pay anything; theu just help with the maintenance. We use plastic jars to transport the water home. There is also electricity that my parents pay monthly. We also have some chickens as domestic animals. Well, I have to say goodbye for now. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I love you so much.

Hugs and blessings,

Victor Leonardo Alvarez Jimon

Translated by: Mireya de Sandoval, AAC Secretary / Antigua