Chiq'a'l - San Juan Comalapa

Chiq'a'l is a large highland Kaqchikel community in the department of Chimaltenango. Because it is located quite a distance from major highways, it still has a stronger rural flavor that distinguishes it from some of the other large communities where we work. Most of the population still devotes a significant amount of their time to farming. Many of our collaborators live in remote villages surrounding the town center, which they visit once or twice a week to buy and sell in the local market.

Because of this rural nature, transportation and other logistical barriers are important for determining access to care. Indigenous midwives are the primary care providers for much of the region, where more than 80% of women give birth in their own homes. Consequently, we seek to mobilize, educate, and empower lay midwives and health promoters in their important work.

For several years, we have been in partnership with ACOTCHI, a 100-member strong midwifery cooperative based out of Chiq'a'l. We work together to provide high-quality continuing education activities for member midwives which bolster their knowledge base and sense of professional identity. Instruction occurs exclusively in Kaqchikel, a first in the history of midwife training programs in Guatemala. Additionally, we sponsor a large community-based literacy program.

The ACOTCHI primary care clinic is open most days a week, staffed by physicians and midwives. In the coming year, we are working to expand the range of services offered in the clinic. In particularly, we are interested in providing definitive, high-quality prenatal services, including pregnancy monitoring and the treatment of anemia and other pregnancy-related complications. Clinical services in Chiq'a'l are augmented by occasional visits from subspecialty volunteer physicians from the United States who provide assistance with difficult cases and participate in educational activities.

In 2009, we opened a pilot midwifery school for young women with clinical rotations to be based out of the ACOTCHI facility

See photos from this project here