My Story

Nueva Esperanza, which means New Hope, is located in a slum area of Guatemala City, Guatemala. An extremely poor area, our program is squeezed in among the shanty dwellings built over an old city dump. Many houses in this area are without toilets or running water and are assembled with scrap wood, sheet metal, and cardboard. Zone 5, where Nueva Esperanza is located, is considered one of the most dangerous areas of Guatemala City. It is controlled by gangs and drug pushers. Robberies and murders are common in this area. Public education is available - however, many cannot afford it.

It is a beautiful day to greet you and share my information in this opportunity! My Name is Josue Israel Andrade Manuel. I was born on August 13, 2017, and I am now an 8-year-old boy. I live with my parents, one brother and one sister. By the grace of God, we are in good health. As for me, well, I am in first grade this year. I enjoy playing with my toy cars and skateboarding. The animals I like the most are baby chicks, and I love the color blue. I love eating “tacos” (a homemade food). My father´s name is Oscar Rolando Andrade Garcia. My mother´s name is Blanca Estela Manuel Osorio. My parents work selling homemade food, but they go to a different market. It is a great blessing to see my parents support each other to take our family ahead.

Thank God, we live in our own house; it is my father´s. There are two rooms and a kitchen. It is a block and wooden house with a tin sheet roof and a cement floor. We have electricity but no running water. My parents pay for the electricity bill every month. To get water, we have joined hoses to bring it from a public sink. Fortunately, we live 5 houses away from the place where we connect the hoses to fill containers at home. We do not pay any money for it. The reason that we do not have running water is that my father does not have a legal document for the property from his father to prove that it is an inheritance. My father needs to have a title deed to be able to do require the water service. We are a Christian family, and we are attending Light and Truth Church. At the moment our greatest needs are clothes, shoes and school support. It is a great blessing for me to be enrolled in the feeding program and I walk 10 minutes to arrive there. This is all for now, and I would like to hear news from you very soon. Many and abundant blessings over you!

Warm hugs,

Josue Israel Andrade Manuel

Translated by: Violeta Hernandez / A-A-C Secretary-Antigua Guatemala