Cruz is 25 years old and boards in a house in Xejuyup, Sololá. He has no siblings and both parents died when he was a young child.  Cruz earns $12 per month working in manual labor and all of this money goes to paying for room and board in Xejuyup. He is in his first year of high school at El Instituto La Asuncion and graduated from junior high last year at the top of his class.