The FFBW Expands Its Work in Guatemala Through New Partnerships
The Foundation for a Better World has broadened its development efforts in Guatemala through partnerships with two exemplary organizations. The FFBW now supports the work of Creamos and Wuqu’ Kawoq, which is also known as Maya Health Alliance.
Creamos is an organization that seeks to empower women through education, vocational training and economic opportunities. Through its core values of empowerment, gender equality and community engagement, the organization offers various programs tailored to empower women and improve their quality of life.
Notable programs include workforce development, adult education and emotional support. Creamos also operates a social business, mi eelo, which employs 52 Guatemalan women. The women create and sell upcycled artisanal products and eco-friendly packaging to many socially conscious businesses abroad. All profits generated by mi eelo get reinvested into Creamos and its programming.
Creamos has had a profound impact on the communities in which it operates. Its programs allow women to gain financial independence, increase their social and emotional support and become role models.
Maya Health Alliance operates at the intersection of language, health and science to deliver comprehensive healthcare to rural indigenous communities in Guatemala. The organization focuses on four sectors of health: child nutrition, women’s health, maternal-child health and chronic disease.
The unmet need is glaring. A pregnant woman in Guatemala is ten times more likely to die during childbirth than her counterpart in the United States. As many as 80% of children in rural communities suffer from chronic malnutrition. The rate of type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes among Maya people is 25%, which more than doubles the national rate.
Maya Health Alliance trains and dispatches frontline community health workers. These community health workers travel to rural communities and can provide treatment for diabetes, kidney disease, cancer and child malnutrition.
The organization is a leader in early childhood development and nutrition. It works with infants, young children and their families to improve diets and implement nutritional education and interventions.
While the organization’s community health workers can treat numerous conditions, sometimes patients with more severe illnesses require trips to the hospital. Maya Health created its innovative care navigation program to overcome barriers indigenous populations face in accessing traditional healthcare. Through the care navigation program, Maya Health care navigators accompany patients to the hospital and translate. They ensure patients receive proper care that respects their dignity.
Maya Health also operates The Center for Indigenous Health Research. Here, the organization conducts scientific investigations to identify best practices that can be implemented in its programs and shared with other health organizations in Guatemala. Since its founding in 2007, researchers at the center have published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Creamos and Maya Health are efficacious organizations that support some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Each organization has continued to grow and expand its abilities to effect lasting change. The FFBW is excited to partner with such impactful organizations.
