The Maya of Guatemala and Southern Mexico generally live in rural areas and survive primarily on subsistence farming, as well as seasonal work on coffee, cotton, and sugar plantations. Unfortunately, neither their own farming nor the work they perform for others provide them with sufficient yield or income to properly feed or clothe themselves.

The result is extreme poverty. Due to this poverty, malnutrition is the number one problem. It causes poor brain and immune system development. These factors lead to a) an inability to develop normal intellectual capacity, and b) a susceptibilty to illness at an early age.

The lack of intellectual capacity, in turn, leads to poor performance in school, which results in one or more social consequences. First, poor performance frustrates the student and brings with it a high drop-out rate. Second, even for those who continue through the sixth grade, which is the highest grade level most Maya achieve, the options for upward mobility are nil. As a result of both of these consequences, most Maya live in a cycle of poverty, from which neither they nor their children, nor their grandchildren can escape.

A greater susceptibility to illness, alternatively, not only contributes to the abovementioned poor school performance, but also causes death at a premature age. The rate of death for children under age five is one of the highest in the world. And the general longevity for persons who live beyond five years of age is also low, due both to diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, and death during childbirth.

It is the mission of Mayan Medical Aid to break this cycle of poverty and malnutrition, while maintaining the important cultural traditions of the Maya. By providing adequate nutrition, primary health care, and sanitation, our organization will intervene to disrupt the centuries-old pain and suffering the Mayan people continue to endure on a daily basis.

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