A number of years ago a Chamula Indian man living
five hours (l5 miles) north of Yerba Buena decided he wanted a daughter. (He had five
sons, but no daughter.) This Indian man, Andres, knew an elderly Indian woman who was
raising her granddaughter. So Andres made a bargain with the grandmother and bought the
little girl for l50 pesos (l2 dollars).
All went well until two and a half years ago a band
of assassins murdered Andres and four of his sons one night. Antonia, the little girl who
was not l0 years old, was hit in the leg twice by stray bullets and brought to our
hospital. Soon she recovered and returned to live with her grandmother because nearly all
of her new family had been eliminated. But the grandmother did not want Antonia and
offered to sell her for l00 pesos. So a nephew of the murdered Andres, by the name of
Pedro, took the girl to live with him and his wife.
Things did not run smoothly between Antonia and
Pedro's wife. So Pedro's brother, Antonio Díaz, (whom many will remember, since we
brought Antonio and María to the United States six years ago) brought Antonia to Yerba
Buena for us to care for here.
She is a sweet little l3 year old child and is
content as one of our children, calling us "Mamma" and "Daddy."
