| | | | Dear Friend, Welcome to our Summer 2025 newsletter! With all of the cutbacks and uncertainties around global health funding, this continues to be a difficult year. We have been forced to close down some of our research and to consider reducing programs. We share the concerns sweeping through the communities where we work around what comes next. We are continually evaluating how to make adjustments and generate new resources so we can weather the damage and sustain our health services and research. At the same time, we remain focused on the very real issues and progress in our daily efforts to improve health in communities across rural Guatemala. One of the toughest problems we're facing is reducing newborn deaths. Our solution involves providing more education and support for midwives and families and strengthening links with the public health system. Team members on the frontlines have been struggling with the magnitude and challenges of this heartbreaking problem, and it is taking a toll. We are working to support our team in this extremely tough, important effort. Meanwhile, we are excited to be moving forward with new initiatives to partner with mothers during pregnancy and provide education and nutrition supplements with the aim of improving their health and the health of their babies. This serves as an encouraging reminder of the strength and promise of working with communities to reach for a better future. All of this is possible thanks to your support! With gratitude, Anne Kraemer, CEO |
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| GROWING & SHARING - MATERNAL & INFANT HEALTH |
| | Our work supporting healthy births in partnership with traditional midwives continues to grow and thrive! We have officially welcomed 25 new midwives, bringing our total to 60 Kaqchikel Maya birth experts working with our team in preventing maternal and neonatal deaths in rural communities. The photo above features our celebration after completing training. Participating midwives learned to use the phone application and other tools we provide to help detect signs of risk during pregnancy. The Maternal & Infant Health Program, which incorporates midwives and our care navigators to help ensure moms and babies receive timely, effective care, continues to attract interest in the global health community. Several team members had the opportunity to share recent progress in global health forums. |
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| In April, Dr. Edlyn Ramos, Maya Health Medical Research Scientist, presented at the Global Empowerment Meeting at the Harvard Center for International Development. She highlighted our work with Emory University using an AI-enhanced phone application to detect and address risks in pregnancy. In May, Dr. Anahí Venzor Strader was a guest on the Guatemalan Science Ministry’s Miércoles de Ciencia podcast, where she shared her experiences working in maternal and infant health. Dr. Venzor Strader has helped lead Maya Health’s efforts training technicians and midwives to support mothers and their newborns in the critical first days after birth. Dr. Venzor Stader also presented at the International Pediatric (IPA) Congress in Mexico City. She was joined by Dr. Esteban Castro, and together they highlighted the knowledge that emerges from communities and how culturally relevant research and healthcare can save lives and transform health systems. |
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| | | | INTRODUCING OUR 2024 ANNUAL REPORT! Our 2024 annual report is here! Click here to find out more about our team, our board, and highlights from the year. Learn about our work preventing cervical cancer, what we are doing to improve diabetes care, and our growing focus on supporting child development. |
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| | WELCOME, ROBERT PAGE! We are excited to share that Robert W. Page Jr. has joined our Board of Directors! He has extensive experience in international development and court administration. He was co-founder of DPK Consulting, which worked for over 30 years on projects related to rule of law and governmental accountability and transparency in developing and post-conflict countries. He built DPK, which initially focused on Latin America, into a global firm. Prior to DPK, he had a distinguished career as a high-ranking court administrator at both the central office and trial court levels, including serving as State Court Administrator for the California court system, with over 1,500 judges and 20,000 employees; and as the Chief Executive Officer of the Southern District Federal Court of New York (Manhattan), the largest federal trial court in the United States. |
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 | He has served on several boards of nonprofits working to improve lives in developing countries, including Home for a Home, which builds homes for families in Guatemala, and FINCA, which focuses on micro loans and other poverty eradication programs. |
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| | THANK YOU, BANTRAB! We were thrilled to receive the 2025 Worker Award in the Social and Foundations category of the annual awards sponsored by Guatemalan banking company Bantrab. In a spectacular event, Bantrab honored those who, with dedication, promote the well-being and development of Guatemala. Our Human Resources Manager Mérida Coj and Operations Manager Eddy Roquel attended to accept this recognition on behalf of the entire Maya Health team. |
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| CULTIVATING POSITIVE CHANGE INSIDE AND OUT |
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| At our spring quarterly team meeting in Tecpán, representatives from Maya Health’s Changemakers committee led an activity focused on building a workplace culture of inclusion. We began by watching the film 500 Years: Life in Resistance, a documentary exploring Guatemalans’ struggle for justice and dignity, from the genocide trial of Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala’s President during some of the deadliest years of the civil war, to the 2015 protests that led to the resignation of former President Otto Pérez Molina. Following the film, team members presented our recently drafted Inclusion Manifesto, which examines different forms of discrimination and exclusion, and outlines what we protect, what we allow, and what we prioritize at Maya Health. |
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| JOIN OUR OCTOBER INSIGHT TRIP! You are invited to our next Insight Trip from October 19-23, 2025! Participants meet the team at our Tecpán headquarters, visit patients’ homes in the rural communities where we work, and make a stop at stunning Lake Atitlán. Registration deadline is August 1. “I was privileged to participate in one of the Maya Health Alliance Insight Trips. The many acts of kindness I experienced were a reflection of the generous spirit, compassion and passion that guides them in everything they do. Their work is truly impressive. I feel blessed that I was able to witness the healthcare work provided by the amazing Maya Health Alliance team.” – Spring 2024 Insight Trip Participant |
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| | OUR TEAM GETS CREATIVE! Watch this video for a quick look at how our team & friends created a gorgeous carpet (alfombra) for Holy Week on the cobbled street around the corner from our Antigua office - overnight! Starting around midnight, they laid the frame and began sprinkling colored sawdust to bring this intricate pattern to life. As the sun rose, they were putting on the finishing touches. Just hours later, the procession made its way down 7a Avenida Sur and shuffled over the carpet, leaving only blurry remnants of the design. It was exhausting and exhilarating to be among the many families and community groups tapping their inner artists in observance of Semana Santa. |
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| | JOIN THE IDPA CONFERENCE IN GUATEMALA CITY! We are proud to be hosting the upcoming 6th International Developmental Pediatrics Association (IDPA) Congress 2025, which takes place December 1-4 in Guatemala City, marking the first Congress in Latin America! This year’s theme is Equity and Opportunities for All Children, with a special focus on caring for children from Indigenous and minority communities. |
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| | | HELP US GET OUT THE WORD! We love to share our work so that potential supporters will join our community. Help us do that by providing a review on GreatNonProfits. To get started, click here! |
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| | | | | | | | Thank you so much for your ongoing support! |
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| | | | Maya Health Alliance | Wuqu' Kawoq
PO Box 860943 | Minneapolis, Minnesota 55486-0943
513-393-9878 | development@wuqukawoq.org |
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