Fifth Grade
Worksheets
A Guatemalan Girl Gets Enough to Eat
Eight-year-old Mirtala patted the earth around the base of the tree she planted. She looked at her thumb to see if it was green yet. Her mother told her that having a green thumb would help their family. Mirtala liked planting trees. The green leaves tickled her chin and made Mirtala laugh with joy. The work she did helped her family with some big challenges.
Mirtala's family started to have problems last year when her father became sick. He went to the hospital in a city far from their small village in Guatemala. Her mother washed clothes for her neighbors to earn money for food, but it wasn't enough. Her mother said, "I told God to please help me because my husband is sick in the hospital and my children are hungry." Mirtala's mother was very worried about her family. After all, she had twelve children to feed.
One day, some visitors came to the village with a new idea. The area needed new trees so the soil would not wash away. The project was called "reforestation." The people in charge of reforestation needed workers to plant the trees. Mirtala's family needed food and work until her father was well. So, that is how Mirtala's family got their new jobs and a steady supply of delicious food. In exchange for their work, her family receives rice, beans, corn, sardines, oil, and medicine. Mirtala is grateful because she remembers many nights when she went to bed hungry.
