Student Sponsorship: #1757 Berta Paola

Our group spent time with Berta and her mother this summer.  They have faced such adversity, but hopefully she will receive the gift of an education...providing more choices in life.  Berta looks so happy in her new traditional clothes that were donated to her!

Berta Paola was born on January 20th, 2006.
Berta is in the Mayan Families/Mission Guatemala pre-school in San Andres in 2011.

She lives in San Andres with her father, Juan, 41yrs old (dob. April 5th, 1969) and her mother, Maria, 44yrs old (dob. Dec. 4th, 1966).

Berta has five brothers and one sister.
 They are:


• ·      Domingo is 18yrs old. (dob. July 18, 1992). He went to school till 7th grade and now works as a cleaner in a hotel. He earns $23 US per week.

• ·      Elias is 17yrs old. (dob. May 23rd, 1994) . He went to school till 6th grade. He is unemployed right now but he collects firewood to sell and also for the home. He earns $4 US on the days when he is able to sell the firewood.

• ·      Jeremias is 13yrs old. (dob. August 5th, 1997). He is in 3rd grade.

• ·      Noe is 10yrs old. (dob. May 29th , 2000). He is in 3rd grade.

• ·      Floridalma is 8yrs old. (dob. June 25th, 2002) . She is in 2nd grade.

• ·      Eliseo is 6yrs old. (dob. Sept. 9th, 2004). He is in kindergarten.



The father works as a builders assistant. He earns $26 US per week.
He did not have the opportunity to go to school . He does not know how to read or write.


The mother works collecting firewood to sell and earns $7 US per week.
She did not have the chance to go to school. She does not know how to read or write.



They are living in a tent given to them by Shelterbox.  Their village was evacuated during Tropical Storm Agatha in 2010.  They are not allowed to return to their village. It is a permanent evacuation. The land has been greatly damaged by mudslides and it is unsafe to live there.

The govt. is eventually going to give them land so that they can build a house.



The father built a kitchen made of tin sheeting and built a block stove for his wife to cook over.



They do not have a water filter.


They do not have beds, they sleep on mattresses on the floor.


They have a small closet.
They have three chairs and one table.



They have electricity connected and the govt. is paying.


They have one toilet and one shower they are sharing with 21 families.


They have two sinks to wash their clothes and they are sharing these sinks with the 21 families also.