The mission of this initiative is to promote health and prevent illness for the Maya Q’anjob’al people in Nebraska and Maya Q’anjob’al territory in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which states.
Article 24
Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
Advancement of Maya Medicine
Consistent with the declaration, we incorporate Maya medicine alongside Western medicine into all of our health programs, listed below, in Nebraska and in our homeland. We have also held events at our Maya community center for people to learn about Maya midwives, herbalism and other healing practices.
The Maya Health Assessment Study
Conducted for the first time from 2017-2019, this study is a tool to understand the health status of the Maya community in Omaha, Nebraska. The understanding it provides positions us to implement evidence-based health promotion and health intervention programs that will improve the health, access to healthcare and the general well-being of Maya people. We hope to conduct this study on a continual basis in order to keep learning about the state of health and the impact of our programs in the Maya community.
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