Meet Nicolás Christian School 11th-grader, Yesica. She lives in the village of Los Angeles in a mountainous region in northwestern Guatemala. Los Angeles is a farming village of 150 families. Yesica described Los Angeles as “very poor,” with only a few families having money.
Home Life
Her father and mother are Francisco and Catarina. Francisco owns and operates a small tienda (convenience store) in Los Angeles. Catarina is a full-time homemaker. Yesica has two little sisters and a brother. Her sister, Jazmín Amanda, attends Nicolás Christian School as a 7th grader. She has a younger sister, Sandy Carina, and a younger brother, Abner Andry.
School Life
Yesica was an honor student when she attended elementary school in Los Angeles and has continued to be an honor student at Nicolás Christian School. Ivan España, Nicolás Fund for Education National Director, describes Yesica as “disciplined” and aware of her academic responsibilities. She is a terrific role model for her younger brother and sister.
Her Burden
But something is worrying Yesica, and she dissolves into tears as she tries to describe her concern. Her father, Francisco, has had severe back pain for a year and isn’t improving. Yesica told us, “It makes me feel very bad to see him like this.” Her number one prayer request is that her father’s back pain would resolve, and she has requested prayer in the past from our monthly virtual prayer group. Please pray that God will restore Yesica’s father to complete health and mobility.
Yesica told us that without the support of donors like you, she would not be able to attend Nicolás Christian high school. Yesica said that if she couldn’t be a student at Nicolás Christian School, she would work as a waitress in a restaurant to help support her family. She added that she would try to find a night or weekend school to complete her education using a process similar to getting a GED. That is a long, tough road for a young woman in Guatemala, and many things, like getting married and having children, could derail a young woman’s plan.
68% of indigenous girls in this community that are not in school after 6th grade become pregnant between ages 12-14.
Her Hope
Yesica speaks and understands some English, one of her favorite subjects at Nicolás Christian School. Her career goal is to become an English teacher after graduating college. She also enjoys her literature, technology, leadership, and social science classes.
Yesica loves to worship and sing in a praise band at Lamb of God Church in Cotzal. She also plays the saxophone and drums. Yesica and her friend at Nicolás Christian School, Keren Potenciana, have shared their beautiful singing voices with visiting NFE teams during welcome ceremonies.
Yesica loves to learn about cooking and recently participated in an INTECAP class at Nicolás Christian School using protein supplements called Incaparina in recipes to boost nutritional benefits. Yesica particularly liked learning about making high-protein shakes with Incaparina and enjoys carefully weighing and measuring ingredients in a recipe.
Yesica thanks God and donors like you for the opportunity to study at Nicolás Christian School!
