Editorial Wuqu' Kawoq

As part of our committment to language and cultural vitality, we periodically publish community health resources and other material of interest to the communities where we work.

In September 2008 we published a bilingual Kaqchikel-Spanish book which details safe, evidence-based approaches to the use of traditional herbal medicines as well as provides extensive self-help treatment information, mostly grounded in herbal remedies, nutrition and life-style changes, for common diseases. A reference book of herbal remedies and common diseases is the single most requested item in the communities we work in. Since no such resource exists, we have written and published this one, which is distributed at no cost. In addition, because the book is bilingual, it will be a resource for language revitalization movements which are helping indigenous persons learn to read and write in their own language.

Our next book project is a midwifery manual designed to be used in our training sessions with ACOTCHI and other groups of indigenous midwives. The text is currently in the editing phase, and we anticipate release in the next 18 months.

We welcome proposals from individuals or organizations interested in publishing their own work. At the present, we will entertain proposals that deal with community or women's health, midwifery, traditional or herbal medicines, oral history or narrative, and ethnographic investigations of indigenous life. Proposals must demonstrate potential for generating a final product of considerable interest or utility to one or more indigenous communities, and they must be published in bilingual format. At the present, we have capacity to assist in the editing of manuscripts in Kaqchikel or K'ichee' only.

Read more about our book projects here