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! This is Petrona Luis Ajqui, and this is a little about my family and me. I was born on September 8, 2014, so I am now 11 years old. I live in a village called Pacoc I, and I am attending Cuatro Caminos feeding program. I am attending school, and I am in 5th grade this year. In my free time, I help my grandmother with some household chores. I attend a Methodist Church with my siblings and grandmother. I have one brother and one oldest sister. I really love eating fried chicken. I love the color black, and my favorite animal is the rabbit. I would like to ask for your prayers for my health since I am suffering from cramps and pain in my feet and hands.  

I do not have any information about my father; he did not legally recognize me. My mother’s name is Isabel Luis Ajqui. My siblings, mother, grandmother and I live in the same house, but I am under the care and responsibility of my grandmother Petrona Ajqui. She is already an elderly woman (70 years old), and she does her best to cover my needs by raising and selling hens. We have also survived thanks to our church’s brethren who sometimes support us. Please pray for my grandma because she is a diabetic person and is suffering from high blood pressure and gastritis; this illness has also caused her to lose vision in her right eye. 

The house where we live belongs to my oldest sister, and it has two rooms and a kitchen. It is made of adobe with a tin sheet roof and dirt floor. We get the water from a stream, and we use a hose to bring it home. We have electricity. As for domestic animals, we have hens and turkeys. We are a humble family, and our frequent needs are groceries, clothes and shoes. I live 30 minutes away from the feeding program, and I walk there with my brother who is also part of the program. Well, this is all for now. My grandma helped me to give my information to LW Evangelism team, and I hope you find it interesting.  

Sincerely yours  

Petrona Luis Ajqui 

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