Rural Mayan Research Articles

Beyond the binary sex-gender system in Tseltal Mayan communities: Embodiment of two cases of youth sex-gender dissidence experiences in San Juan Cancuc, Chiapas, Mexico

BackgroundThe link between female and male energies from the Mayan epistemology gives space to gender categories beyond the colonial binary sex-gender system that are still being embodied by contemporary teenage sex-gender dissidences from rural communities. Objective: This article aims to analyze, with a postcolonial and non-binary gender perspective, the violence and self-care strategies of two Tseltal Mayan youths who openly live sexualities and genders dissident to hetero-cis-normativity in the rural community of San Juan Cancuc, Mexico. Measure: The study followed an ethnography and autobiographical method design, supported by 3 in-depth interviews to each participant between 14–17 years old, self-identifying as Tseltal Mayan, with an open sex dissident life: one Cis-Male with a fluid gender identity and one Antsil-Winik, a non-binary Tseltal Maya gender. Security protocols were used to create safe conditions to each participant in the study. The importance of the linguistic and cultural two-way translation process between Tseltal and Spanish was considered as well. Results: The study revealed the multifactorial violence against rural Mayan teenage sex-gender dissidents in their own communities and in diverse social spheres. That violence increases if the teenager expresses a gender identity like Antsil-Winik, which breaks the binary sex-gender system. Conclusions: Family support, access to education and healthcare, bilingual abilities (Tseltal-Spanish) and migrations become important tools to create emancipation conditions and solidarity actions among the Tseltal teenage sex-gender dissidences.

Phlebotomine sand flies in rural Mayan communities of Southern Mexico: The heterogeneity of the ruralscape increases the entomological risk

In the Yucatan Peninsula, tropical preserved forests harbor a high diversity of phlebotomine sand fly species, potential vectors of Leishmania. As a result, a significant risk of contracting localized cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL) is associated with entry into these forest ecosystems. However, with the current trajectory of land use in the region, communities now live within modified landscapes which could increase their risk of contact with vectors. In this study, we characterized the sand fly fauna and its relationship with the characteristics of peridomestic habitats in two rural communities in Yucatan characterized by contrasting records of leishmaniasis. Five human dwellings in each community were randomly selected and the peridomestic landscape was characterized (i.e., type and percentage of land use). For the collection of sand flies, CDC traps were deployed in both the intra and peridomicile. Differences in alpha and beta diversity between communities and ecotopes were estimated considering three separate groups, all species together, zoophilic species, and anthropophilic species. In total, 1, 241 sand flies represented by eight species were collected from November 2021-March 2022. Both communities registered the presence of sand flies in the intra and peridomicile, and females were more abundant than males. However, the greatest diversity of species was recorded in the peridomicile of the community with the highest composition of land uses. Our study demonstrates that the transformation of the forest around the communities favors the abundance and richness of sand flies in the peridomestic environment. We discuss the limitations and implications of our findings regarding the potential risk of the emergence of peri‑rural cycles of leishmaniasis in the region.

Training university teachers in an urban context to educate future teachers in rural Mayan environments: an international cooperation project

Training university teachers in an urban context to educate future teachers in rural Mayan environments: an international cooperation project

Risk factors and prevalence of symptoms of sexually transmitted infections in Rural Mayan Villages in Guatemala

In this study, we identify and describe the risk factors and symptoms that are suggestive of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in rural Mayan villages of Guatemala. We used the World Health Organization's syndromic guidelines for diagnosis and management of STIs to design questionnaires and to identify STI symptoms among indigenous Mayans who presented to mobile clinics in villages served by Guatemala Village Health (GVH). Symptoms that include abdominal pain or pain on urination, genital discharge, itching and sores were highest among younger participants. Lack of male participation in sexual health matters constitutes an important determinant of risk of exposure.

41-LB: Effectiveness of a Two-Year Peer Support Diabetes Education Intervention Implemented in a Semiurban Mayan Community in the Yucatan, Mexico

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevalence in adults has increased significantly in Mexico in recent years. In the Mayan population, factors like poverty and language barriers intensify the problems of living with T2D. Peer support is a promising approach to diabetes care as it helps patients to support each other throughout their everyday lives. This program was first evaluated by our group in Komchen, a rural mayan community, where peer support had significant reductions in A1c levels at 4 and 8 months of follow-up. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of a two-year peer support education program for patients with T2D in a semi-urban Mexican Mayan community. Methods: Patients with previous diagnosis of T2D were recruited from the community clinics (n=156) and randomized to: 1) Participants invited to attend the Education Program (EP)delivered by a certified diabetes educator; or 2) Participants were invited to attend the EP plus peer support meetings (PSM) facilitated by leaders with type 2 diabetes. Results: Unlike our experience in Komchen, adherence to the EP in Conkal, a more populated and urbanized town, was lower: 80% in Komchen vs. 33% in Conkal, the same fact occurred for PSM. We found a relevant clinical difference in A1c level between groups (Figure 1) although difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: It remains a tendency to maintain or decrease A1C levels through time on intervention groups compared to the control. Disclosure K.G. Castillo-Hernández: None. H. Laviada: None. A. Espinosa-Marrón: None. F. Molina: None. Funding AstraZeneca Mexico (D1843L00017)

Ongoing challenges in access to diabetes care among the indigenous population: perspectives of individuals living in rural Guatemala

BackgroundIndigenous persons living in Latin America suffer from a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes compared to their non-indigenous counterparts. This difference has been attributed to a wide range of factors. Future interventions could be influenced by a deeper understanding of the challenges that impact care in rural regions and in other low-income settings.MethodsThis study was conducted using a modified grounded theory approach. Extended observations and fifteen interviews were performed with adult male and female residents of three rural Mayan towns in Sololá Department, Guatemala using purposive sampling. Questions focused on the perceptions of individuals living with type 2 diabetes and their caregivers regarding disease and treatment.ResultsAcross interviews the most common themes that emerged included mistreatment by healthcare providers, mental health comorbidity, and medication affordability. These perceptions were in part influenced by indigeneity, poverty, and/or gender.ConclusionsBoth structural and cultural barriers continue to impact diabetes care for indigenous communities in rural Guatemala. The interviews in this study suggest that indigenous people experience mistrust in the health care system, unreliable access to care, and mental health comorbidity in the context of type 2 diabetes care. These experiences are shaped by the complex relationship among poverty, gender, and indigeneity in this region. Targeted interventions that are conscious of these factors may increase their chances of success when attempting to address similar health disparities in comparable populations.

A Home-Based Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Intervention in Rural Guatemala.

IntroductionDiabetes self-management education (DSME) is a fundamental element of type 2 diabetes care. Although 75% of adults with diabetes worldwide live in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), limited DSME research has been conducted in LMICs. The objective of this study was to evaluate a home-based DSME intervention in rural Guatemala.MethodsWe conducted a prospective study of a DSME intervention using a quasi-experimental, single-group pretest–posttest design. We enrolled 90 participants in the intervention, which consisted of 6 home visits (May 2014–July 2016) conducted by a diabetes educator using a curriculum culturally and linguistically tailored to rural Mayan populations. Primary outcomes were changes in mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline and at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were diabetes knowledge and self-care activities at baseline and intervention completion.ResultsHbA1c decreased significantly from baseline to 12 months (absolute mean change, −1.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], −1.9% to −1.0%; P < .001). Systolic blood pressure also improved significantly at 12 months (−6.2 mm Hg; 95% CI, −10.1 to −2.2 mm Hg; P = .002); changes in diastolic blood pressure were not significant (−1.6 mm Hg; 95% CI, −3.9 to −0.7 mm Hg; P = .17). We also found significant improvements in diabetes knowledge and self-care activities from baseline to intervention completion.ConclusionDSME interventions can be successfully delivered in a setting with an underresourced health system, high poverty rate, and unique cultural characteristics like Mayan Guatemala. Our findings point to the need for more DSME research in resource-limited settings globally.

Making sense of (exceptional) causal relations. A cross-cultural and cross-linguistic study.

In order to make sense of the world, humans tend to see causation almost everywhere. Although most causal relations may seem straightforward, they are not always construed in the same way cross-culturally. In this study, we investigate concepts of “chance,” “coincidence,” or “randomness” that refer to assumed relations between intention, action, and outcome in situations, and we ask how people from different cultures make sense of such non-law-like connections. Based on a framework proposed by Alicke (2000), we administered a task that aims to be a neutral tool for investigating causal construals cross-culturally and cross-linguistically. Members of four different cultural groups, rural Mayan Yucatec and Tseltal speakers from Mexico and urban students from Mexico and Germany, were presented with a set of scenarios involving various types of causal and non-causal relations and were asked to explain the described events. Three links varied as to whether they were present or not in the scenarios: Intention-to-Action, Action-to-Outcome, and Intention-to-Outcome. Our results show that causality is recognized in all four cultural groups. However, how causality and especially non-law-like relations are interpreted depends on the type of links, the cultural background and the language used. In all three groups, Action-to-Outcome is the decisive link for recognizing causality. Despite the fact that the two Mayan groups share similar cultural backgrounds, they display different ideologies regarding concepts of non-law-like relations. The data suggests that the concept of “chance” is not universal, but seems to be an explanation that only some cultural groups draw on to make sense of specific situations. Of particular importance is the existence of linguistic concepts in each language that trigger ideas of causality in the responses from each cultural group.

Barriers to accessing the culturally sensitive healthcare that could decrease the disabling effects of arthritis in a rural Mayan community: a qualitative inquiry.

The impact of living with arthritis in a rural Mexican Mayan community along with the barriers encountered by people living with this chronic condition were investigated in this study. The community needs around this health issue were investigated by conducting an ethnographic study using data obtained during two time periods (August 2012-April 2013 and December 2013-December 2014). During the first period, fieldwork observations and interviews with 65 individuals, which included people with arthritis, health professionals, traditional health providers, and community leaders were undertaken. During the second period, 46 community meetings were conducted to identify the needs associated with arthritis in the municipality. Data were analyzed following a modified version of the Framework approach. The results show that arthritis reduces the health-related quality of life of the people in Chankom through a process of disablement, conditioning a need to access culturally sensitive healthcare. Availability, attainability, and acceptability barriers prevent access to this type of healthcare and result from power imbalance between indigenous and non-indigenous people. There is a need to develop culturally sensitive rehabilitation services for people living with arthritis in Chankom. Mayan people should be involved in the design and implementation of these services. Moreover, it is important to improve our understanding of the processes behind the healthcare access inequities identified in this study by attending to the historical generation of current social, economical, cultural, and political structures.

Sustainable community-based interventions in rural Mayan artisan groups in Guatemala

Welcome to Annals of Global Health,Annals of Global Health is a peer-reviewed, fully open access, online journal dedicated to publishing high quality articles dedicated to all aspects of global health. The journal's mission is to advance global health, promote research, and foster the prevention and treatment of disease worldwide. Its goals are to improve the health and well-being of all people, advance health equity, and promote wise stewardship of the earth's environment.Annals of Global Health is supported by the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College. It was founded in 1934 by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as the Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine. It is a partner journal of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.Authors of articles accepted for publication in Annals of Global Health will be asked to pay an Article Publication Charge (APC) to cover publication costs. This charge can normally be sourced from your funder or institution. We are committed to supporting authors from all countries to publish their work in Annals of Global Health regardless of national income level, and to achieve this goal, we waive the Article Publication Charge for manuscripts where all authors are from low-income or lower-middle-income countries (as defined by the World Bank). From time to time, Annals of Global Health publishes Special Collections, a series of articles organized around a common theme in global health. Recent Special Collections have included "Human Health and Ocean Pollution", "Building Health Research Capacity in Rwanda; A Multi-Year Journey", and "2020 Year of the Nurse". Global health workers interested in developing a Special Collection are strongly encouraged to contact the Managing Editor in advance to discuss the project.

Seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi among mothers and children in rural Mayan communities and associated reproductive outcomes.

Our objective was to determine the seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection among mothers and children in two rural Mayan communities in Yucatan, Mexico and examine sociodemographic characteristics and adverse reproductive outcomes associated with maternal infection. We performed household surveys in the communities of Sudzal and Teya. Mothers were interviewed, and blood samples were obtained to perform rapid tests and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). We surveyed 390 mothers and 685 children. The overall seroprevalence was 2.3% among mothers and 0.4% among children. In Sudzal, we found a seroprevalence of 4.4% among mothers and 0.7% in children. In Teya, we found a seroprevalence of 0.9% among mothers and 0.3% among children. Compared with uninfected mothers, seropositive mothers reported more stillbirths (relative risk = 4.7; 95% confidence interval = 2.1-10.4). T. cruzi infection is present in these communities, and infected children indicate active transmission. Seropositivity in mothers is associated with a history of adverse reproductive outcomes.

Wildlife uses and hunting patterns in rural communities of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

BackgroundSubsistence hunting is a traditional practice providing food and many other goods for households in the Yucatan Peninsula, southeast Mexico. Economic, demographic, and cultural change in this region drive wildlife habitat loss and local extinctions. Improving our understanding about current practices of wildlife use may support better management strategies for conserving game species and their habitat. We aimed to evaluate if wildlife use remained relevant for the subsistence of rural residents of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as if local hunting practices were related to environmental, geographical, and cultural factors.MethodsFieldwork was done between March 2010 and March 2011. Information was obtained through conversations, interviews, and participant observation. Record forms allowed recording animals hunted, biomass extracted, distance intervals to hunting sites, habitat types and seasonality of wildlife harvests. Data were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance, and Generalized Linear Models.ResultsForty-six terrestrial vertebrate species were used for obtaining food, medicine, tools, adornments, pets, ritual objects, and for sale and mitigating damage. We recorded 968 animals taken in 664 successful hunting events. The Great Curassow, Ocellated Turkey, paca, white-tailed deer, and collared peccary were the top harvested species, providing 80.7% of biomass (10,190 kg). The numbers of animals hunted and biomass extracted declined as hunting distances increased from villages. Average per capita consumption was 4.65 ± 2.7 kg/person/year. Hunting frequencies were similar in forested and agricultural areas.DiscussionWildlife use, hunting patterns, and technologies observed in our study sites were similar to those recorded in previous studies for rural Mayan and mestizo communities in the Yucatan Peninsula and other Neotropical sites. The most heavily hunted species were those providing more products and by-products for residents. Large birds such as the Great Curassow and the Ocellated Turkey were extremely important for local hunters, representing around 40% of total prey taken.Final considerationsOur results suggest that hunting is frequent in our study areas. Low human densities allow low hunting pressure on most game species and favor conservation of the tropical forest. We suggest that co-management may help regulating hunting, prioritizing cultural practices of sustainable use and conservation for benefiting local users and animal populations.

Essential oil Yield Variation Within and Among Wild Populations of Mexican Oregano (Lippia graveolens H.B.K.-Verbenaceae), and its Relation to Climatic and Edaphic Conditions

Knowledge on the role of climatic and edaphic factors that influence the essential oil production in aromatic plants is essential for the development of strategies for management and conservation. Mexican oregano is a non-timber forest product traditionally harvested from wild populations by the rural Mayan communities. Despite its economic importance, studies designed to evaluate the variation in essential oil production, and its relationship with environmental conditions, are scarce. The main goal of this study was to assess spatial variation in essential oil yield of 14 wild populations located in a bioclimatic gradient in south-eastern Mexico, and explore if such variation was associated with different climatic and edaphic conditions. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between essential oil yield and climatic and edaphic variables. Geographic variation in essential oil yield was observed among bioclimatic regions, among populations within regions and among plants within populations. Populations located in regions of higher aridity presented higher essential oil yield. Additionally, our results suggested that plants in populations with lower soil water availability, higher nitrogen and iron contents and higher pH values presented higher ssential oil yield. Finally, this study allowed us the identification of high yield germplasm with potential for commercial exploitation.

Development of a culturally specific assessment tool for pelvic organ prolapse in a Mayan population

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common condition that can significantly affect a woman's life, including her sexual, urinary, and social functioning. In Guatemala, anecdotal evidence suggests that the daily activities of Mayan women contribute to and worsen the degree of pelvic organ prolapse. The objective of this research was to develop a culturally specific assessment tool to better evaluate how pelvic organ prolapse affects the daily activities of Mayan women in rural Guatemala. A survey was created entitled a Culturally Specific Assessment Tool for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (CSAT-POP). The survey was administered to a 19 Mayan women with various degrees of pelvic organ prolapse in Montellano, Guatemala. Participants were asked using a Likert scale about how their pelvic organ prolapse affected their ability to perform 7 culturally specific activities of daily living. The survey was administered through an on-site interpreter who translated the CSAT-POP into Spanish and Quiché. Nineteen women were assessed using the CSAT-POP. Their mean age was 49.2 ± 28 years, and the median parity was 6.8 children (range 1-11). Three culturally specific activities: performing vigorous activities, gathering wood, and carrying water, were identified as the activities most impacted by pelvic organ prolapse. Of the participants, 15-20% were unable to perform these activities on a daily basis. However, preparing food, washing clothes, and caring for children were the activities reported by women with pelvic organ prolapse which required the least amount of assistance. The CSAT-POP identified several activities specific to the rural Mayan community in Guatemala which are difficult to perform with pelvic organ prolapse. By using culturally specific activities of daily living, the CSAT-POP allowed for more relevant assessment, identification, and treatment of women with pelvic organ prolapse in Guatemala.

Mayan morality: An exploration of permissible harms

Anthropologists have provided rich field descriptions of the norms and conventions governing behavior and interactions in small-scale societies. Here, we add a further dimension to this work by presenting hypothetical moral dilemmas involving harm, to a small-scale, agrarian Mayan population, with the specific goal of exploring the hypothesis that certain moral principles apply universally. We presented Mayan participants with moral dilemmas translated into their native language, Tseltal. Paralleling several studies carried out with educated subjects living in large-scale, developed nations, the Mayan participants judged harms caused as the means to a greater good as more forbidden than harms caused as a side-effect (i.e., side-effect bias). However, unlike these other populations living in large-scale societies, as well as a more educated and less rural Mayan comparison group, the target rural Mayan participants did not judge actions causing harm as worse than omissions (i.e., omission bias). A series of probes targeting the action–omission distinction suggest that the absence of an omission bias among the rural Mayan participants was not due to difficulties comprehending the dilemmas, using the judgment scale, or in attributing a greater causal role for actions over omissions. Thus, while the moral distinction between means and side-effect may be more universal, the moral distinction between actions and omission appears to be open to greater cross-cultural variation. We discuss these results in light of issues concerning the role of biological constraints and cultural variation in moral decision-making, as well as the limitations of such experimental, cross-cultural research.

The human capital consequences of civil war: Evidence from Guatemala

We combine data from the 2002 National Population Census and the distribution of the number of human rights violations and victims across 22 departments to examine how Guatemala's 36-year-long civil war affected human capital accumulation. The year of birth and the department of birth jointly determine an individual's exposure during school age to three different periods of the civil war, namely the initial period (1960–1978), the worst period (1979–1984), and the final period (1985–1996). We find a strong negative impact of the civil war on the education of the two most disadvantaged groups, namely rural Mayan males and females. Among rural Mayan males, those who were school age during the three periods of the civil war in departments where more human rights violations were committed completed 0.27, 0.71, and 1.09 years less of schooling respectively whereas rural Mayan females exposed to the three periods of the war completed 0.12, 0.47, and 1.17 years less of schooling respectively. Given an average of 4.66 and 3.83 years of schooling for males and females, these represent declines of 6, 15, and 23% for males and 3, 12, and 30% for females. Our results are robust to the inclusion of indicators for department of residence, year of birth, and controls for different trends in education and human development in war-affected and peaceful departments of Guatemala and suggest that the country's civil war may have deepened gender, regional, sectoral, and ethnic disparities in schooling.

The Modernization of Cooking Techniques in Two Rural Mayan Communities of Yucatán: The Case of Lard Frying

The objective of this article is to provide information on cooking techniques used by two rural communities of Yucatán. We used a 24-hour recall method with 275 participants consuming 763 dishes. Dishes were classified according to cooking technique: 205 were lard-fried (27%), 169 oil-fried (22%), and 389 boiled/grilled (51%). The smaller more secluded community (San Rafael) consumed more fried dishes than the larger community (Uci) (54% versus 45%) and used more lard-frying than Uci (65% versus 46%). The more extensive use of lard in the smaller community appears to be due to fewer modernizing influences such as the availability and use of industrialized vegetable oils.

Math in the Milpa

Travel with us to the rural Mayan village of Santa Avelina, Guatemala, to learn how to develop culturally relevant lessons for your own classroom.

Dietary characteristics of complementary foods offered to Guatemalan infants vary between urban and rural settings

The objective of this study was to describe and compare the dietary variety, diversity, and origins of complementary foods given to urban and rural Guatemalan infants in the second semester of life. Dietary intake from a total of 128 infants of both sexes, aged 6.0 to 12.0 months on admission, from a low-income district of Guatemala City and a rural Mayan village was collected by means of 3 nonconsecutive 24-hour quantitative intake recalls and breast-feeding histories. We hypothesized that rural/urban, age, and sex differences would occur with respect to dietary variety and diversity scores and descriptive features at 7 levels, that is, animal or plant origin (animal, plant, both, or water); solids or semisolids vs soups and stews vs liquids; infant vs family foods; modern vs traditional foods; processed vs nonprocessed foods; commercial vs noncommercial foods; and fortified vs nonfortified foods. Overall dietary variety and diversity scores did not differ significantly between sampling areas or between sexes. Infants aged 9 to 12 months had a higher dietary variety and diversity than infants aged 6 to 9 months. Plant sources constituted a large part of the diet in both areas. Foods prepared specifically for infants, rather than for the household, were not common, although more common in the urban area than in the rural area. Commercial, processed, and fortified foods were commonly consumed in both settings. It can be concluded that although no geographical differences were seen in dietary variety or diversity, distinctions between types of selected and consumed foods were observed.

Wild Meat Use and Traditional Hunting Practices in a Rural Mayan Community of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Overexploitation of Neotropical ecosystems for wild meat constitutes a threat to biodiversity and might seriously affect local people who depend on wild animals as a primary food resource. To assess this problem at the local level, social use of wild animals was evaluated in a Mayan community of the Yucatan Peninsula. Over 8 months, peasant-hunters carried out a total of 175 hunting trips, gathering 253 animals of 12 species (mammals, birds and reptiles). Most preys (95%) were taken in 4 months (January–April) during the dry season and the main target species were white-tailed deer and iguana (jointly representing 59% of preys). During an 11-week period, total per capita wild meat consumption (182 kg; n = 14 families) was three times greater in nuclear than in extended families. The observed wild fauna use is a reflection of traditional knowledge and represents an important subsistence strategy for the local people.