pa k'in (santiago sacatepÈquez)

We have developed a partnership with the citizen's community council in Pa K'in to work on projects at the intersection of Kaqchikel language literacy and medical care and education. Pa K'in is a large highland indigenous town located near the capital city where well over 90% of the population speaks Kaqchikel. Notwithstanding, there no Kaqchikel-language health care resources nor Kaqchikel-speaking providers. We have begun a small clinic which provides basic medical care and nutritional and lifestyle counseling, especially in response to the needs of diabetics and the elderly home-bound (yes, we make house calls!). We offer community health classes on important issues such as water quality, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Responding to the desires of the community, we have fully integrated traditional herbal remedies into the daily practice of the clinic. We also work closely with Mayan spiritual leaders (ajq'ija') to integrate traditional healing and prayer practices into the care of our elderly chronically ill. All this is, of course, strictly in Kaqchikel, a first in the history of the country.

Pictures from Pa K'in

chiq'a'l (san juan comalapa)

We have become an international liaison for ACOTCHI, a one hundred-member strong traditional midwifery cooperative based out of Chiq'a'l (San Juan Comalapa) that currently serves over 2,000 patients. We have always had a strong interest in supporting traditional medicine and traditional practitioners, and this new relationship gives us the opportunity to do just that. Currently, we fund their training and continuing education sessions. We provide books and literacy supplies as well as medical equipment for their practices. We also provide training sessions on safe and effective use of traditional herbal methodologies. We are working to assist them to expand their diagnostic capabilities, as well as to help them foster relationships with international midwifery organizations and apply for international funding.

Pictures from Chiq'a'l

tiqaq'omaj qi'

We are in the final stages of manuscript preparation for 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 such as diabetes, urinary tract infections, and sinusitis. 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 are writing and publishing one, which will be 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.

Scans from Tiqaq'omaj Qi'

future projects:

Numerous other projects are on the horizon! One of the most exciting is the work of several board members in the southern Piedmont region of Guatemala, on the Kaqchikel-K'iche language border, to form alliances of development organizations and community leaders to design and implement water and sanitation solutions in these very under-developed part of the country.

We are also working on expanding our collaborative efforts with traditional spiritual practitioners to more fully integrate spiritual practices into our medical work in Pa K'in. We continue to look for ways to empower local practioners and community leaders and to advocate for the use of indigenous languages in all spheres of life. Our goal as an organization is and will continue to be to work broadly and intensively in indigenous communities, to foster trust and collaboration, and, above all, to value and promote language, culture, and good health.