piyusha.kundu@tufts.edu
cleo.davidowitz@tufts.edu
Hola! We’re Piyusha and Cleo – second-year medical students at Tufts who spent 6 weeks in Guatemala during our M1 summer.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Yakhkind, a neurointensivist at Tufts, we pursued an independent research project in the town of Santiago, on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Santiago Atitlán has a rich Mayan history–in addition to Spanish, most of its inhabitants speak Tz’utujil, a language indigenous to the region. It was the first town established on the lake and has preserved much of its agricultural tradition to this day – the local market is bustling with women in the traditional traje (colorfully embroidered huipils and striped cortes, or skirts), selling avocados, mango, dragon fruit, tomatoes, and beans–all grown locally.
Our project, “Stroke and Seizure in Translation: Knowledge Surrounding Neurologic Diseases among the Tz’utujil Maya of Guatemala” is a continuation of Dr. Yakhkind’s research in the area with the local hospital, Hospitalito, which services a large rural radius.
Our research consisted of qualitative interviews with various community members, including church leaders, gardeners, nurses, and healers. We spent on average 30 to 40 minutes with each subject, asking them about their attitudes and beliefs regarding strokes and seizures, including opinions on etiology, treatments, and social stigma within their community. These interviews were conducted in Spanish and Tz’utujil, the latter with the help of a local translator, Orfa. We are now in the process of transcribing and translating these interviews, and will be analyzing them through a coding methodology. We hope that this research will inform how healthcare workers perceive the experience and language of disease from patients’ perspectives and help reveal areas where potential educational materials may be utilized. Furthermore, we hope to gain a better understanding of the rural Mayan holistic health framework, specifically surrounding neurological disease.
We were touched by the kindness of the people we interviewed. They welcomed us into their homes and shared intimate details of their lives or of those close to them, often emotionally-charged, despite having only known us for a few minutes. We certainly did not take this innate trust and connection for granted–it was invaluable not only to our research, but made us feel welcomed in the community where we would spend most of our summer.
FUN HIGHLIGHTS:
Exploring Lake Atitlán and the surrounding towns was a highlight of our summer. From daily swims in the lake, to paragliding, bird watching, hiking volcanoes, and exploring local cuisine (yes, even a vegetarian and a celiac can indulge), we truly took advantage of living in this beautiful area.
