Near the market of Santo Domingo I took a colectivo (van) to head towards IDEX's partner, K'inal Antsetik's Leadership Center. Both the offices of K'inal and the Mayan weavers cooperative called Jolom Mayaetik are based there.

Getting to K'inal's offices turned out to be not so easy. The colectivo dropped me of in the middle of the street. "Just cross the piece of land ahead and watch out for the dogs! They like to bite people," was the last thing I heard the van driver say. I found myself ultimately on Calzada de la Escuela and of course, none of the numbers are in order. A woman that looked out of place was walking nearby, so I thought maybe she would know what I'm looking for. Indeed the European woman showed me the way to K'inal. I knew I was there once I saw the pink building.

The first person I met was Celerina, the President of Jolom Mayetik's Board. She is in her last year of presidency and is already training young indigenous women to become part of the Board the next year when she leaves.

"What do you want to do after leaving your president's role?" I asked her.
"I want to study medicine to become a nurse. I want to be able to support women in the communities in issues of health. That has always been my dream."
"How is it, being president for the cooperative?"
"It has been hard but I have learned so much on the way. At first I told the cooperative that I didn't want to be the president, but no one really paid attention to me, because the next thing I know I was the president! But now I'm glad because I have the opportunity to learn to speak to people and to travel and get to know other countries. I now can travel to other countries by myself."

I then met with Micaela, K'inal's Director and Rosalinda, the Health Program Coordinator. Micaela talked about her ongoing work in supporting Jolom Mayaetik cooperative and how excited she is to start a new program for indigenous young women at K'inal.

K'inal is hosting for the first time 3 young women from the community of Marques de Comillas to stay at K'inal's Leadership Center to continue their education in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Also, at the end of August, they will be receiving a 17 year-old young woman who will be studying law at a nearby university. Her community will be collectively paying her tuition fees with the commitment of her returning to the community to defend their rights as indigenous people.

Rosalinda gave me the details of the health program at K'inal that started in 2006. By March 2007, Rosalinda had visited 3 times each group of women belonging to Jolom Mayaektik cooperative to create a needs assessment of what health-related issues to cover in the program. At the same time, she's been accompanying indigenous women to doctor and gynecological appointments to be the translator from Spanish to Tzotzil so that these women can have access to healthcare in the city.

As if that wasn't enough, Rosalinda just finished her first semester of studying alternative medicine where she plans to get her bachelor's degree.

"Why did you want to study alternative medicine?" I asked her.
"At first I thought I wanted to study accounting because of my experience at Jolom Mayaetik. [Rosalinda is the former President of Jolom's Board.] Then I thought I wanted to study computer science but how am I going to help women directly with a computer? I chose alternative medicine because it will allow me to have the skills to support directly women in the communities. That was the most important decision maker for me."

After our conversation, Rosalinda showed me her garden, where she is growing various medicinal plants. She's still learning but she is hoping that whatever she learns she can pass on to indigenous women in Chiapas.

Kat

Labels: Health, indigenous women, Jolom Mayaetik, K'inal

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