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Xejuyú

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The community of Xejuyu is large and includes 410 families. The history of the community began September 17th, 1997 when the owner of the finca Santo Tomas Perdido, Carlos Javier Alvarado Torrebiarte, called the representatives of the finca workers to a meeting where they were informed that on the 15th of October of the present year the worker would be paid severance and laid off.   But the workers had the idea of asking for housing and land instead of money. The owner of the finca said that he did not have any idea of how to give them land, but the representatives insisted they wanted a place to build and live for a better future.

 

The days passed by and they were not given an answer to their requests. The representatives were anxious for a positive response. After many meetings in the month of November of the same year the owner of the finca finally said they were going to give them lots on which to build their homes, but he did not give a fixed date for doing this.

 

Weeks and months passed and the land was not divided into lots until September 1st, 1998 at 2:00 in the afternoon. It was a time and date unforgettable to the people who lived on the finca.

 

 

Sadness became joy. There were bombas (fireworks)  and the elders cried from sadness because the finca was the place where they grew up, but at the same time they cried out of happiness because they would no longer be from a finca but from a community. 

 

October 22, 1998 at 6 in the afternoon they had a meeting. All of the parents of the families were in the meeting room of the Finca Santo Tomas Perdido to decide on the name of their new land, which used to be a pasture and was called Zancudero. Among the people, there were many opinions for the name. The first name was Colonia Conception, in honor of Virgen Concepcion. The second was Colonia Nueva San Carlos because that is the name of the owner of the finca. 

 

 

Then, one of the elders of the families raised his hand and said we need the name of our community to be in our language, Kaqchikel. Xejuyu, when translated into Spanish means under a large hill. They agreed, and since then it is called Colonia Xejuyu of the municipality of San Lucas Toliman of the department of Solola. 

 

 

In the east and in the north it is surrounded by mountains where the birds sing in the early mornings. In the west is the volcano called Atitlan. There is a school with six classrooms, but this is not sufficient for the number of children. There are also several churches: Evangelical, Catholic, and Jehovah’s Witness. These are located on the side of the asphalt road from San Lucas Toliman to Patulul, Suchitepequez. There is a clinic, but it is not adequate. The climate is temperate. 

 

 

The agricultural production of this community is coffee, tomatoes, corn, and animals.  To sell, they must travel to San Lucas on market days which are Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.

MISSION IMPACT:

  • Construction: Since 2015, the Mission has built 2 block homes, 9 hybrid houses, 2 wood homes and 52 fuel-efficient stoves in Xejuyu.

  • Healthcare: In 2019, Xejuyu was served by 5 visiting medical groups who conducted a total of 263 consults. There were 128 children enrolled in the child nutrition program with 30 families receiving the supplement.

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