COMUNIDAD MAYA PIXAN IXIM: REINFORCING OUR ROOTS LIVING OUR MAYA HERITAGE

We seek to improve the health and well-being of Maya people in Nebraska and Q’anjob’al Maya territory consistent with the Q’anjob’al Maya system of social organization and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Deep in our collective memory is the reality that the Maya is one of the most sophisticated civilizations humanity has seen. From that understanding our mission is to rebuild our communities for our own well-being and that of humanity.

Through our health program, we aim to improve the health, access to healthcare and the general well-being of the Maya community. We hope to educate healthcare students and professionals about the presence of Maya and other indigenous peoples in urban areas and about Maya health care practices, and help practitioners of Maya healing be able to practice openly.

Through our arts and culture program we seek to heal historic trauma, reduce acculturative stress and improve mental health in the Maya community by helping Maya people connect with and find pride in their identity and culture. We also aim to share this culture and art with the non-Maya community.

Through our education program, we seek to help Maya youth access education that is culturally sensitive and graduate from highschool and college at higher rates, equipping them to serve their communities. We aim to help Maya adults learn the skills they need to access employment and other economic opportunities. We hope to educate non-Maya people about the spiritual, cultural and political aspects of Maya identity.

With our regenerative agriculture program, we seek to provide healthy, sustainably produced food and lift Maya people out of poverty in Nebraska and in our traditional homeland by creating employment and building collective wealth. In addition, the project will anchor the Maya community’s ancient relationship with the land, support the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of Maya people, and contribute to healing historical trauma while providing infrastructure for the recuperation of indigenous ways, knowledge, wisdom and identity.

With our human rights program we seek to bring justice to Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al people for genocide and other crimes in order to prevent a repeat of these atrocities. We also want indigenous rights defenders to be able to continue their struggles in defense of indigenous people and our mother earth. With this, we hope Maya people in Guatemala gain the physical integrity and safety to protect our communities, our territories and ultimately to be able to safely stay in our homelands.

We also aim to help Maya people in the US gain legal status in order to live free of the fear of militarized immigration enforcement and deportation and be able to take higher paying jobs, have greater access to governmental services and higher education and own homes and businesses, all leading to greater economic security and prosperity.

In the area of health, we carry out a Maya Health Assessment Study to understand the health status of the Maya community in Omaha, NE and be able to implement evidence based health programs. We also hold a yearly health fair where Maya and non-Maya people are invited to get basic check ups and care from Creighton University medical students and faculty and Maya health practitioners. We also coordinate the Maya Community Health Collaborative where medical students and the Maya community share their knowledge of physical and mental health and healthy living.

Under our Maya Arts and Culture program we organize celebrations of Maya culture according to the sacred Maya calendar. These festivities include Maya music, performances based on the sacred Maya text, the Popul Vuh, and Maya cuisine

In the area of education, we have a youth mentoring program where Creighton University students mentor Maya youth who would be first generation college students and also collaborate with the Omaha Public School system to review the schools’ curriculum, facilitate communication between schools and the Maya community and celebrate Maya holidays in schools. We also offer adult education including drivers education, computer classes and English as a Second Language, as well as a leadership development program that helps Maya adults through a process of mind and heart deprogramming and decolonization.

In the area of human rights, In Guatemala we hope to provide legal defense for Maya people criminalized for defense of land, territory, sovereignty and natural resources and bring suits against the state of Guatemala in Guatemalan and international courts for committing genocide and other crimes against the Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al people. In the US we hope to provide legal representation, documentation and collective litigation to support Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al people seeking asylum.

Finally, we are working toward purchasing 400-600 acres of fertile land within a 60-mile radius of Omaha, NE to create a farm that combines Maya wisdom with regenerative agriculture techniques. This farm operation would be managed and controlled under a collective system yet operated as a competitive business. It would include an integrated value-added processing center for eggs, broilers, vegetables and selected nuts and fruits, agroforestry-centered grain production, and aggregation, processing and distribution of feeds and whole grains.

Operating with the support of elders of the Omaha Nation, we would combine the wisdom of the Maya people accumulated over centuries working the land with 21st century advancements in regenerative agriculture to create a farm that is sustainable and profitable. Profits would be invested in community economic development projects, support similar projects in other Mayan communities in the US and our homeland, and be distributed to the Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al governments.

According to our bylaws, our board always has a majority of Maya people, but it also includes non-Maya people who contribute their expertise. It currently includes practitioners of Maya and western medicine, Maya and non-Maya academics, immigration attorneys, artists and experts in regenerative and Maya agricultural practices. This diverse board lends us the knowledge and experience to carry out programs in a broad range of areas.

Our programs are able to reach the Maya community because they come from the Maya community. Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim was created by the Maya community in Nebraska and now coordinates closely with Maya governments in our homeland. In this way, we ensure that our programming addresses the needs of Maya people and that we are offering services that will benefit the community.

Each of our programs is designed and carried out by experts from within and without the Maya community. Our volunteers include Maya people with cultural competency, knowledge of the Maya community and the language abilities. They also include university students, faculty and academics in the areas of medicine and social sciences, farmers and spiritual leaders

Much of our ability to carry out a broad range of effective programming comes from our constant collaboration with other institutions and groups. We collaborate with local organizations including Sacred Seeds, No Empty Pots, ReGenerate Nebraska, the Immigrant Legal Center, Heartland Workers Center, academic institutions including Creighton University School of Medicine, Creighton University Department of Cultural and Social Studies, Omaha Public Schools, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health and its Center for Reducing Health Disparities and indigenous councils and governments in Nebraska and in traditional Maya territory.

We also pull much of our abilities from our memberships in various groups including the Non-profit Association of the Midlands and the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table. These groups provide ongoing capacity building for organizational infrastructure, civic engagement, mentoring in leadership, and strategic planning and n on-profit best practices.

When we began our work in 2007, most Maya people in Nebraska were either unaware of or hid their Maya identity out of fear and shame. Maya people in our homeland lived through horrific violence and persecution and still faced discrimination and ridicule there and in the US. Because of our program, many Maya people have reconnected with their culture and traditions and show off their Maya identity through the arts, language, medicine, spiritual practices and celebrations with pride.

Our Maya Health Fair has helped approximately 600 people access basic health care over the five years we have held it and about 40 medical students each year have gained greater cultural competency and crucial medical experience. During the COVID-19 crisis, we have also provided interpretation and accompaniment to Maya people in the Omaha, NE area connecting them to health care and other services. In addition, we have distributed educational materials in Maya languages about COVID-19 and how people can protect themselves.

Through our adult education programs approximately 300 adults have learned skills such as basic computing and English language. We have helped 20 of those get their driver's license and six get their General Education Diploma.

About 50 youth have received mentoring through our Maya Youth Mentoring Program which has significantly increased the graduation rates for these young people, both from high school and from college. Some youth reported that they had never considered college before entering the program, but because of the program they chose to go on to higher education and successfully graduated.

Our efforts have also helped 10 community members avoid deportation away from their families and communities and for many of them achieve a status that gives them greater security in the US.

This year and in coming years, we will continue to provide monthly and annual health programming as well as educational materials and interpretation. We will also continue our adult and youth mentoring and educational programs.

We plan to significantly expand our work in the areas of human rights and regenerative agriculture. Within two years, we hope to purchase 400-600 acres of land near Omaha, NE and launch a farm with food processing using regenerative agricultural techniques. In the meantime, we are launching a community garden at our Maya community center to teach these techniques and connect the Maya community to local, regenerative agriculture.

Within our human rights program, we will provide legal defense for indigenous rights defenders in our homeland, develop a strategy of collective legal defense for Q’anjob’al Maya people in the US to protect them from deportation, and hope to find a way to hold the Guatemalan State accountable for genocide and other crimes committed against Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al people by bringing charges in Guatemalan courts and petitioning international bodies.