Los Angeles clinic offers care for Mayas – Clinica Romero reaches a community that has generally been reluctant to seek Western treatment.

The Maya women sit patiently in the lobby of Clinica Oscar Romero, playing with their children and speaking in their native dialects of Kanjobal and Quiche.

Idalia Xuncax knows all of the women. She is their guide, translator and advocate in a healthcare world so foreign from their villages in Guatemala, where many relied on herbal medicines and faith healers.

For eight years, Xuncax — who is also Maya — has reached out to other Mayas and gained the trust of a community that has generally been reluctant to seek Western medical treatment. Largely because of Xuncax’s work, the number of Maya patients at the Los Angeles clinic has grown from just a few eight years ago to about 700 today. Many have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.”*

*From: www.latimes.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

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