My Story

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

Hello! My name is Elmer Ronaldo Riz Ruiz, and I am writing this letter to tell you about my life. I was born on September 29, 2016, so I am 9 years old. I am in good health, and I am in 2^nd grade this year. I like playing soccer in my free time. My favorite color is red, and I love rabbits. I really enjoy eating fried chicken. My family and I are attending Prince of Peace Church; thank God, everybody is healthy. My mother is Zoila Riz Ruiz, and she does different kinds of jobs in order to cover our needs. She works as a day laborer, gathers firewood for others, and raises hens for selling. My brother, Byron, is 16 years old, and when he works as a day laborer, he helps my mother financially; he does not earn much money, and it is not a stable job. I was not legally recognized by my biological father, and I do not know anything about him; he abandoned us when my mother was pregnant with me. When I was 4 years old, my mom established a new family with another man with whom she has two other children. Unfortunately, he also abandoned her and my youngest siblings.

We do not have our own house, so we live with my maternal grandmother, Juana Ruiz. The house has two rooms and a kitchen, and it is made of adobe with a tin sheet roof and dirt floor. We use candles at night, and we use a hose to bring the water from a river to our house. We have hens at home. We are a humble family, and our frequent needs are groceries and clothes. I have four brothers and one sister, and one of them is registered at the feeding program too. We live far away from the program, and we have to walk for 2 hours to arrive there. I tell you that my mom helped me to give my information to LW Evangelism team. I hope you find my information interesting.

With much love

Elmer Ronaldo Riz Ruiz

Translated by: Loyda de Osorio, AAC Secretary/Antigua Guatemala