Andrea Buch lives with her grandchild Claudia. Claudia's mother committed suicide when Claudia was three years old, and Andrea has cared for her ever since. Claudia also had a little sister who was one year old when her mother died, but Andrea was unable to support both of them and she was forced to give the baby away to another family. Claudia's father abandoned her mother and he does not support them in any way, he is married and has a family.

Claudia's grandfather died 30yrs ago from alcoholism and thus raised her mother and now Claudia alone, always struggling to find enough to feed those dependent on her. Until Mayan Families found this little family of two, Claudia had never been to school because her grandmother could not afford it but she is very happy that thanks to her sponsor she now has the opportunity to go.

Andrea usually makes tortillas with beans and brings them to the market to sell on the week ends in Panajachel. She earns $2 US per day. Otherwise she weaves guipils and napkins. She earns $3 US in the week doing this. She has a total of $7 US per week to live on to feed herself and Claudia. However, Andrea has a serious problem with her eyesight. She has lost the sight in one eye and her other eye often hurts, and this is seriously affecting her capacity to work. She therefore has been earning much less in recent months.
Their diet consists mostly of wild herbs that they gather, beans and mostly tortillas with salt.

Even though Andrea owns the house they live in, she is unable to afford electricity. The house is on a very steep cliff and it is a long walk to the main highway, and a very steep walk up from the village's center where they must go to collect water to carry back home. They do not have a pila to wash their clothes and instead they must also carry these down to the village center and then carry them back up. They do not have a closet and so instead they keep their clothes in a cardboard box.

To support Andrea and Claudia to receive healthy hot lunches with the Mayan Families feeding program we estimate it will cost around $29 per month for each of them ($58 for both together). If you are able to assist this family please go to the donate monthly website, go to the other programs box and enter A 64.
Thank you so much!