Huehuetenango, Guatemala

Huehuetenango, Guatemala

Guatemala is in Central America and is about the size of the state of Tennessee. She has many neighbors including Mexico to the west and north; Belize, The Gulf of Honduras and the country of Honduras to the east; El Salvador and the North Pacific Ocean to the south. Huehuetenango is in the western part of Guatemala, along the mountains of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes. Some of the families coming to the MOST mission will travel from this mountainous area where they have limited medical services.

Huehuetenango can be very cold or very hot and humid. We anticipate warm and moderate weather in February to make easier travel for the families and so that the team can deal more with the mission at hand and not the possible extremes in weather.

More than half of Guatemalans are descendants of the Mayan civilization. There are several Mayan ethnic groups around Huehuetenango with the Mam being the majority in the area. Identifying dress and indigenous languages are characteristic of each ethnic group. While Spanish is the official language it is not universally understood among the indigenous populations when vocabulary is also a descendant of the Mayan culture. From experience of the past years we know that there will be times when several language translators will be needed to gather medical information on the child in need of cleft surgery.

As many as 50% of Guatemalans are based in agriculture, often at the subsistence level. The families that come to the MOST mission are generally farmers who cultivate corn, potatoes, wheat, barley, coffee and sugar cane or shepherds who tend sheep and goats. Another large group are artists who create textiles, guitars, fireworks, pottery and baskets.

The predominant religion in the country is Roman Catholicism, but the main religion for the families we will see in Huehuetenango is a mixture of ancient Mayan beliefs with Christian elements.

Guatemala gained independence from Spain in 1821, was briefly a part of Mexico and then became part of the United Provinces of Central America. The country has struggled through difficult and unstable political powers and transitioned to become a constitutional democratic republic in 1985. MOST will arrive in the capitol, Guatemala City on Thursday, February 10^th, our first stop on our way to our mission in Huehuetenango.