[Eating boiled peaches at break-time...peaches were in season]
During our stay, for two days and two nights, the medical arm of AFOPADI hosted a workshop on medicinal gardens. Twenty-nine women from all over Guatemala made up the group which originated in Chimaltenango with another NGO called FUNDEBASE. With many of the same goals of struggling against poverty with the campesinos, it was interesting to witness how the women compared notes on plants, health and organizing. We visited the medicinal gardens in T'umiche (about 7,500 ft.)and got to view more cisterns as well.
Unlike the regular AFOPADI programs where the common language is Mayan Mam, because the here women spoke so many different Mayan languages, the common language was Spanish.
[Health promoter in T'umiche shares medicinal uses of plants.]
2 comments:
These posts about Guatemala are fascinating. Who would have thought, for instance, that there would be active programs for teaching about medicinal plants. And I enjoyed the brief glimpses you gave us of the lush and dramatic landscape.
Up in these impoverished villages, very little health care exists except where AFOPADI has developed clinics staffed by local health promoters. Thus, the use of medical plants becomes vital.And while AFOPADI is not that well-known,it does provide great models for community-based projects.
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