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 Quiché, 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 Quiché Mayans who inhabit this area trace their ancestral roots to the ancient Mayan civilization. They normally speak a Mayan dialect called Quiché - 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 Mirta Melisia Martina Toj Garcia. I am 5 years old, and I will turn 6 on December 15. Thankfully, I am in good health. I am in pre-kinder this year, and my favorite color is pink. The animal I like the most is the rabbit, and I enjoy eating rice. I live with my family; my father is Santos Toj Riz. He struggles to cover our needs by working as a farmer, and he also travels to the coast to pick coffee beans twice a year for three months. At the end of the year, my siblings, mother and I go with him to help him to earn extra money. My mother is Lidia Garcia Barrera, and she takes care of us, does the chores, and also helps my father to improve our income by raising domestic animals like hens and goats.  I have four brothers and two sisters; I like to play with them and with my friends. We practice the Mayan religion; our needs are groceries and clothes.

Fortunately, we live in our own two-room house which is made of adobe walls, tin sheet roof and dirt floor; we have another room made all of tin sheets where we cook. We have electricity, and my father pays the bill every month. We do not have running water, so we get it from the river through a hose.  I walk 30 minutes to arrive at the feeding program; I am so glad to be part of it, and my mother came to register me. It is time to say goodbye. May God bless you, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Cordially yours,

Mirta Melisia Martina Toj Garcia

Translated by: Luisa Reyes /A-A-C Secretary/ Guatemala