Doña Dolores lives in El Sitán with nine members of her family. As a young girl, she had always wanted to go to school, but her parents did not allow her the opportunity. Instead, she stayed at home and worked in her house. When she was 18 years old, she left her family and lived with a man named José Lorenzo, who became the father of her two children. Unfortunately, he was believed to be killed in the civil war in Guatemala. She remembers that it was on September 21, 1985, when he went missing in action. She never heard from him again.
Her family struggled in their living conditions. Their house was made of cornstalks, and the torrents of rain would fall right inside. Even though her family helped support her, all of their money had to be used for food, and there was not enough to contribute to building a new house. Dolores would work in the city making tortillas, earning a low income. From time to time, she would work harvesting corn, sugarcane, and coffee, and she later had two more children.
Dolores was invited to go to church in 1993, and from then on went to church every week and developed a relationship with God. There was a time in her life in which she developed severe arthritis in her feet, and her eyes were blinded for eight months. No one in her family could afford for her to see a doctor, and she was in her bed for two years. She prayed to God and said that He healed her body completely, and now she can see and function well. Every Monday, Dolores goes out to visit the sick people in her community.
In 2008, Casa Angelina was able to build Dolores a new house, and she and her children and grandchildren are so thankful for a warm, rain-proof home. We are also able to provide her with monthly food, a regular pure water supply, and medical attention.