Wuqu' Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance
community driven, data informed
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Guatemala is one of the most unequal nations in the world. The majority of the population are indigenous Maya, who shoulder the brunt of this inequality. They are one of the most impoverished populations in the Western hemisphere. Barriers like language, transportation, distance, cost, lack of education, mistrust, and fear make health care inaccessible to many rural indigenous Guatemalans. Led by indigenous health workers, we are closing gaps in care so that everyone has the opportunity to achieve the best possible health, no matter where they were born or what language they speak.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
Where we have primary care programs, we also work to provide clean water and other related services.
To prevent parasitic and diarrheal diseases, we make sure communities have access clean water. We have installed and maintained thousands of innovative point-of-use water systems.
We also provide education for mothers and families on topics related to maternal and child health (MCH) and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
We work to support our communities for long term change. We work together with clean water technicians as well as the local leaders, schools, and community members to implement our clean water initiative, and incorporate long-term education initiatives.
Primary Health Care
We are committed to making primary health care better in rural Guatemala. We start by partnering with indigenous communities to identify health needs. We then deliver primary care to meet our patients' expectations and demands: linkage to referral care and treatment, education, and long-term commitment to patients.
Women's Health
Our women's health program is comprehensive. In addition to primary care for all women, we offer high-quality services including family planning, cancer screening and treatment, pregnancy care, and management of sexually transmitted infections.
We have developed specific expertise in the screening, diagnosis, referral, and treatment of cervical cancer, which is a leading cause of death in Guatemala.
Our obstetrics initiatives focus on reducing maternal mortality through high-quality prenatal care, midwife education, and using new technology. To make childbirth safer, we’ve partnered with many local and global leaders such as Planned Parenthood International, ACOTCHI (a cooperative of indigenous midwives), and the National Institutes of Health.
The foundation of our women’s health education program is Mayan language women’s health education. These classes help women have healthier pregnancies, children, and lives.
The Complete Child: Health, Nutrition, and Early Child Development
We use the term “The Complete Child” to refer to the fact that children in Guatemala have health needs that go beyond malnutrition. Our child health programs integrate nutrition, education, women’s health, and pediatric services.
All of our work is carried out in a way that aligns with the language and culture of the community.
Children in our affiliated communities sometimes require high-level pediatric care, and we have experience caring for complex pediatric conditions such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, seizure disorders, child cancers, surgical cases, and more.
Our organization is known as a leader in the field of nutrition, and we frequently train other organizations in Guatemala on how to implement similar programs. We also conduct innovative research funded by prestigious institutions like Grand Challenges Canada.
Chronic Disease Care
Our approach to chronic disease care is to integrate high-quality clinical care with health education–all in a patient’s language and culture.
In our chronic disease work, we have become experts in the management of adult and pediatric diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease, seizure disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions. To complement our chronic disease work, we continue to develop screening programs.
Medical Referral and Accompaniment
We have pioneered an innovative referral system to bridge the urban-rural divide in Guatemala. We provide deliver extremely complex medical care to patients in very remote rural communities. We have successfully treated many complicated medical conditions in our referral program, including congenital heart disease, inborn errors of metabolism, end-stage kidney disease, complex surgical cases, cancer, and more.
Our team of case managers all speak Mayan languages and do whatever it takes to overcome the barriers to health care for our patients.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of instances of maternal complications during hospitalized labor and delivery
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Women's Health
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
From July 2020-June 2021, midwives attended 769 cases and referred 319 for advanced care due to complications.
Number of patient visits
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
number of home visits
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our community health workers made more than 10,000 visits to patients' homes in 2019.
number of women receiving reproductive health care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Related Program
Women's Health
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of home visits for nutrition counseling.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers, People of Central American descent, Indigenous peoples, Extremely poor people
Related Program
The Complete Child: Health, Nutrition, and Early Child Development
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our Family-Centered Nutrition program enrolls patients for at least 6 months. Home visits include growth monitoring, nutrition counseling, and food supplements. Covid briefly delayed some services.
Number of pregnant women receiving early and adequate prenatal care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Related Program
Women's Health
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of people treated for diabetes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Chronic Disease Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our chronic care program provides education and monitoring to help people with diabetes manage their condition at home.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Wuqu' Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance recognizes that even in this time of amazing medical discovery, so many of the poor and sick all over the world cannot access the medical resources that could make them well. Our work aims to overcome these barriers to health, so that all can have the highest quality of healthcare.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
At our organization, we believe there is no “one size fits all" healthcare system. That is why we adjust and respond to the needs of each of our patients. We provide high-quality, personalized medical care in the Mayan languages of our patients. We also collaborate on numerous projects with language researchers, grass-roots organizations, and government agencies who champion the use of indigenous languages. By adapting to local cultures and using indigenous languages we create an environment where every voice is heard.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our organization has built a solid base that allows us to reach all those who are locked out of their health care systems. Our staff are fluent in local Mayan languages, in order to deliver culturally-relevant health care. We use our network of 11 clinics as well as community outreach through home visits to bring access directly to patients. We have a leadership team that maintains strong links to the on-the-ground work, and are supported by a board of directors and advisors that include experts in medicine, anthropology, linguistics, law, business, and finance. Wuqu' Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance has committed partners and sponsors including governmental and non-governmental organizations. We maintain a cross-disciplinary, cutting-edge research program that draws from many academic areas and collaborate with many national and international research partners, as well as are deeply committed to building local research capacity so that research in Guatemala reflects real-world realities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
To date, Wuqu' Kawoq has established 11 community health and nutritional clinic sites in indigenous communities in rural Guatemala. We perform more than 20,000 patient visits per year, and have created a network of culturally- and linguistically-informed health workers to deliver this care. There has been a 40% reduction in child malnutrition in the areas in which we work, and more than 700 women have been educated in nutrition and women's health. We continue to strive for more impact, and are expanding the number of communities and breadth of services we offer. Through ongoing research projects, such as the development of our smartphone application, the midwives we work with are able to monitor mothers' and babies' health and relay that information to the Wuqu' Kawoq medical team. This makes it possible to identify high-risk pregnancies that may require a hospital visit. These efforts have contributed to a 50% reduction in infant mortality across our communities.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Wuqu' Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance
Board of directorsas of 02/14/2023
Brent Henderson
University of Florida
Term: 2013 - 2022
Russell Rohloff
Pathways Consulting
Brent Henderson
University of Florida
Anne Kraemer Díaz
Wuqu' Kawoq
Peter Rohloff
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Mark Doerr
Attorney
Claire Melvin
Attorney
Tom Melvin
Financial Analyst
Chis Davies
Property Manager
Kara Andrade
PhD Candidate
Marcela Colom
Physician
Sandy Sudweeks
Professor
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/26/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.