Photo: Alison Wortman
Ingrid, a Mayan community health promoter in Guatemala, is delivering direct health services to another Mayan woman in the Mayan language.
US city hospitals have known for years that it’s important to provide health care to patients in their own language. That’s why hospital interpreter is a growing career option. But you can imagine how grateful a patient might be if the providers themselves spoke her language.
In remote parts of Guatemala, a socially conscious coffee company is supporting an initiative to do that.
As Alison Wortman wrote at the Dean’s Beans blog in May, “When I looked through all the colorful photos I took while on my most recent Dean’s Beans development trip to Guatemala, this one stuck out the most. …
“What we are witnessing here is no small feat. This is a picture (above) from a home-visit in a remote mountain village to check up on a new mom and her baby (the little guy is strapped to her back). What makes the visit so extraordinary is that Ingrid, a Mayan community health promoter, is delivering direct health services to another Mayan woman in their own Mayan language.
“This direct, language inclusive health service from the Mayan Health Alliance (known as Wuqu’kawoq) is the only health organization in Guatemala providing home-based health care to indigenous populations in their own Mayan languages. This women’s health program is one of many in their comprehensive health-care programming which includes primary and women’s health services, nutrition and early child development, treatment and support for chronic disease, medical case management services and clean water education.
“In addition to culturally inclusive services, [the] community outreach workers at Wuqu’kawoq have also become role models for the future generation of girls in a country where 70% of indigenous girls do not make it past 6th grade. …
“Dean’s Beans sent three social workers to Guatemala (Annette Cycon, Jean Marie Walker and myself) for 10 days to prep, introduce and facilitate trainings in Annette’s Group Peer Support Model (GPS). GPS is a powerful and effective group support model that focuses on social support groups to address isolation, mental health concerns, self-esteem building and women’s empowerment. …
“At the end of class the woman served lunch. They all ate half of their portions and wrapped the rest in a bowl covered in bright cloth to take home. Although at first we thought it was to share with their families, we learned later [that] it was to prove to their husbands and mother-in-laws that they had indeed gone to class. This was another example of the oppressive conditions many women face in a country where gender based violence are at epidemic levels.” More here.
That comment reminds me of certain Syrian refugee women I work with. The men are definitely controlling what they do. I think you have to be careful to teach without messing around with another woman’s culture unless you are sure that is what the woman wants. So hard to witness some things, though.
