Contemporary problems in the Guatemala Maya community
Introduction
The Maya people consist of a wide range of indigenous American people mainly of northern Central America and the larger southern Mexico. The overriding term ‘The Maya people’ is a collective term, designed to include a diverse range of an ethnic group belonging to the same geographic region and who share some to some extend some degree of similarities in their cultural and linguistic heritage. However, from an historical or anthropological perspective, the term is considered to generalize a wide range of distinct communities, societies, populations, and or ethnic groups, which have their distinct historical identity, cultures, and traditions.
As at the beginning of the 21st century, the population of the Maya people was at 7 million living in the region of northern Central America and the southern Mexico. a particular group of the Maya people that’s forms the pinnacle of our ethnographic discussion are the Maya people of the Guatemala region. The most distinct characteristic of this group of people is that they have been able to successfully to substantially maintain the bits and pieces of their ancient cultural heritage. Despite the great influence from the majority Hispanicize cultures in which they reside, they have been able to live a more culturally distinct traditional life, either speaking one of the Maya languages as their primary languages.
In the Guatemala region, the native person of the Maya descent forms about 40 % of the total population. The largest part of this Mayan population, which is also considered the most traditional, are found in the Guatemala highlands. The Spanish colonial model of legally keeping the indigenous populations subservient and separate was well sustained up to the 20th century. This translated in many of the Maya traditional forms of life and cultures of the Maya people in the Guatemala region being retained to a greater extend. At the bottom line, the only other option that the Maya people of the Guatemala had was being assimilated into the Hispanic culture, which also had greater influence in the region.
A s a result of the wide ridge separating the interaction platform between the Spanish and the Mayans, many Guatemala Mayans continue to highly upload their traditional values and cultures which varies according to their local identities. The Mayan women, who up to date continue to wear their traditional clothing’s, mostly, evidence this. The Guatemala Mayans are popularly known for their agro forestry practices. This is characterized by their great use of both medicinal and dietary plants.
The Mayans are indigenous Americans living mainly in the Latin America and central North America. This indigenous population living in rural Guatemala has problems with choosing the type of medical care and providers of the care. It is common knowledge that the Mayan community do not subscribe to biomedical procedures, however, the available traditional healers are also not able to provide healthcare due to the lack of the people who come for the services.
Therefore, in rural Guatemala, the public’s utilization of the healthcare systems is relatively low as compared to the other Latin American rural population. In that case, the population in the Guatemalan highlands is in a critical need of improved healthcare. In addition, the cost of acquiring nontraditional medicines is very expensive hence adding more problems to the people of this community. On the same note, presence of low quality equipment and lack of healthcare staff in the health care system in the west makes the population to suffer. Additionally, the government health posts that are present in the region do not have a culturally sensitive care hence this creates a barrier for the indigenous population.
The most efficient approach is to deal with this problem is to emphasize on prevention instead of providing advanced health care that is more expensive which limits the largest number of indigenous population. In addition, it is important to increase the utilization rates of the system and improve it. Many people in Maya population do not trust the system with its providers hence they feel that it does not cater for their preferences and needs. The caregivers in the system should also give personal touch and emotional support to the women who stay at the centre to allow them feel more comfortable. The above care model will be effective and as a result, the enrolment in the postpartum and prenatal services will increase.
Cost is one of significant factors that determine the health seeking behavior. Thus, cost reduction will be a solution approach while at the same time maintaining the quality of healthcare. This may lead to greater utilization of health care and care seeking behavior that is preventive. It will be necessary to remove user fees since this will also increase the rates of health care utilization.
Work cited
Restall, Matthew. The Maya World. Maya Culture and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.
