Unlocking Health Care for Guatemala's Indigenous Population

Experiences as Summer Global Health Fellow in Rural Guatemala

by Stefani Westby

Introduction

Most Latin American countries have been plagued by a history of repressive regimes. Guatemala is no exception. The bloody armed conflict that occurred in the second half of the 20th Century, made the country’s indigenous communities (composed primarily of Mayan descendants and making up close to half of the country’s population of 15 million) particularly vulnerable to the State-sponsored violence. Lasting effects of the civil war and a failure of the government to institute necessary reforms have created a dire health situation for Guatemala’s indigenous people. This disadvantageous situation is the result of social exclusion, racism and discrimination, seen mainly through the lack of represantion of indigenous languages among healthcare professionals. Spanish remains the official language in the country and in the medical field, leaving the indigenous community completely excluded and unable to communicate their own health needs.

About Wuqu Kawoq-Maya Health Alliance

Since 2007, Wuqu Kawoq (WK) has been advancing lasting changes in health care delivery in rural Guatemala so that high quality care is within reach for everyone. They provide comprehensive care in the communities where their patients live and in the languages that they are most comfortable speaking. Their program areas include child nutrition, women’s health, maternal-child health, and chronic disease.

One of their main goals is to partner with indigenous communities to identify health needs and to provide home-based and community-centered care for the health conditions that matter to them. Their belief is that primary care must be about both prevention and treatment. It must include both medical care and health education. And it must include commitments to those who suffer from long-term illnesses and disabilities. They train and support a large group of front-line health workers, including community health workers and nurses.

Team using technology on smart phones to help support traditional midwives

My role

As a Summer Global Health Fellow at WK, I worked with Anne in communications and fundraising coordination as well as with the medical director to shadow team members and learn about all programs. These two pieces worked hand in hand to help me learn about doing global health on the ground and to share my learnings and perspectives on social media, blogs, and in donor communications. I also worked with the complex care team to help secure funding for patients with complex medical needs, including cancer, end-stage renal disease, surgical patients, and special needs children. It was a demanding role and now that I am at the end of this experience, I am eager to reflect on everything that I learned more in detail.

I worked in three different locations, throughout my internship: Antigua, Tecpan and Solola. For most of the summer I was in Antigua working with Anne and Karen, the marketing director, in communications and fundraising coordination. I created graphics and wrote the captions for all of the social media posts. Social media was a great source to share my knowledge based on first-hand experiences with supporters, donors, staff and volunteers. I especially enjoyed making the posts for a segment called “Kaqchikel Wednesday.” I was given a list of words in Kaqchikel with their translation in Spanish. My job was to pick a word, find an image owned by WK that fit the given word, and write a caption that included the word in Kaqchikel and that was related to the organization (values, mission, vision). Besides serving as a way to expand my vocabulary in Kaqchikel, I felt that this segment encompassed everything that I valued about WK: its passion to conserve Mayan languages, its commitment to its mission and values, and the fact that as beautiful as the pictures are, each one serves as a reminder that photos will never capture the true essence of the impact that WK has on its patients. In terms of fundraising, I helped with research and advertisement for WK’s new diabetes clinic called“GlucoSalud” and a Kaqchikel word book for major donors.

In Tecpan I worked with the team, composed of mostly indigenous women who offered healthcare in people’s native Mayan language. I had the opportunity to go on multiple home visits with members of the team in Tecpan. Most of the patients were elderly, indigenous women who suffered from diabetes. WK had an effective, long-term program to help its patients: for sixth months, a trained staff member visited them in their homes with a complete guide and a variety of activities to teach them how to live with this chronic disease.

One of my biggest projects was coordinating the Cincinnati Medical Team’s visit to Solola. I was in charge of scheduling transportation, booking hotels and finding affordable places to eat for the two weeks the team was staying.I accompanied the team during their clinic days in rural parts of Sololá to interpret and assist doctors. This was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I listened to the patient’s stories and was part of their treatment plan and path to recovery.

References

Lawton, A. M. (2015, August 28). The right to health in indigenous Guatemala: Prevailing historical structures in the context of Health Care. HHR Archived. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://sites.sph.harvard.edu/hhrjournal/2015/08/the-right-to-health-in-indigenous-guatemala-prevailing-historical-structures-in-the-context-of-health-care/.

World Bank Group. (2020, July 21). Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century. World Bank. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/lac/brief/indigenous-latin-america-in-the-twenty-first-century-brief-report-page

Maya health alliance: Wuqu' kawoq. English. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.wuqukawoq.org/

Stefani Westby

My name is Stefani Westby (she/her/hers). I am a Biology major, Anthropology minor with a concentration in Community and Global Health. I was born and raised in Antigua, a colonial, small city in Guatemala. From a young age, I have always loved animals, partly because of my country’s incredible and diverse fauna, specifically I am fond of marine animals. In addition to animals, I am interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. Since I was 13, I volunteered as an interpreter and assistant for doctors from the U.S, whose purpose was to provide healthcare ranging from gynecology to hernia reparations to impoverished, indigenous communities in Guatemala.

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