Today we headed out to the village for the first day... Thank goodness the rain held off long enough for us to get up the mountain without sliding off the roads... It was a little sticky at some spots (to be expected), but I actually enjoyed having to get out and hike a ways while the bus got through the mud... The scenery was absolutely breath-taking (no pun intended since the alititude would take your breath away if the view didn't! Ha!)... It was hard to tell how high the surrounding mountains actually were because we seemed to literally be in the clouds...
Upon arriving in the village, we were greeted by two Spanish speaking midwives from a neighboring community... The midwives, Cristina and Antonita, are from a local organization that focuses on training the women of more rural, impoverished, and Queche speaking villages in the ways of Mayan midwifery... Once again, it seems that language barriers will be the bane of my existence (and future work abroad)... Everything seemed to take 5x longer because of all the translations. All the women were excited and eager to share their own experiences and backgrounds, but it seemed as if we were back in the town of Babel... From Queche to Spanish then Spanish to English; the simplist statement takes forever...
I'm learning to appreciate the much more wholistic and spiritual Mayan approach to pregnancy. Every little action and decision in the Mayan culture is based around the Sacred Mayan Calendar. You can't even pick herbs for your patients unless you first plan out the best day according to the Mayan calendar... Everything is ritual here...
I sat in on a midwifery class in the morning led by Antonita and Cristina... We covered prenatal treatments for women from about 2-4 months into pregnancy... The most interest part was the masses of herbs they taught the women how to use to treat basic pregnancy ailm
ents (such as nausea, bleeding, and lack of appetite)... I'm finding it somewhat difficult to sort through my feelings on their more "natural" approach because I have been trained to inherently "trust" western medicine and science... In some cases I know that western medicine could improve quality of life for these women, but I am beginning to understand the multi-cultural quagmire that comes with medical globalization... These women are trying to reclaim their Mayan heritage in an era when midwifery is not respected by the scientific world that I come from... They do not view western medicine as the enemy, but rather as a supplement that should come only when absolutely necessary... It's a delicate and complicated social balance with the pregnant woman left lost somewhere in the middle of two colliding cultures...
ents (such as nausea, bleeding, and lack of appetite)... I'm finding it somewhat difficult to sort through my feelings on their more "natural" approach because I have been trained to inherently "trust" western medicine and science... In some cases I know that western medicine could improve quality of life for these women, but I am beginning to understand the multi-cultural quagmire that comes with medical globalization... These women are trying to reclaim their Mayan heritage in an era when midwifery is not respected by the scientific world that I come from... They do not view western medicine as the enemy, but rather as a supplement that should come only when absolutely necessary... It's a delicate and complicated social balance with the pregnant woman left lost somewhere in the middle of two colliding cultures... Lots to think about and keep me busy! With love from Guatemala... ~Mary
