INDIGENOUS LED RESPONSE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Whether it's $5, $50, $500, or $5000 - every contribution makes a difference!
Given the urgent and changing situation with the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, the International Mayan League is leading efforts to ensure that Maya peoples of the Diaspora are informed, and their basic needs are met during this pandemic. The continued lack of information in indigenous languages predisposes our people, an already extremely vulnerable group, to more hardships. Indigenous peoples are invisible within the immigrant community because our Indigenous identity is erased by misclassification and erroneous labeling as Latino, Hispanic, or Latinx, and/or by statistical omission within the immigration system. Our experience within the framework of COVID-19 is characterized by unique vulnerabilities, which stem from our Indigenous identity and the intersection of discrimination, racism, and Indigenous language exclusion. In what is today Central America, there are over 80 distinct Indigenous languages. We are not being informed by the U.S. Federal or State Governments about COVID-19 in our primary languages or languages we understand.
As such, we are creating an Educational Campaign that includes information on prevention, mitigation, monitoring and health resources; and an outreach plan to ensure our community receives this potentially lifesaving information. As the situation unfolds in the coming weeks, we plan to develop new materials including where to get tests, phone numbers to call, medical care, line up Maya language interpreters, and other needs. Our team consists of a Maya Community Council and the Mayan League team of volunteers including both indigenous peoples and allies. Please consider supporting an indigenous led and created approach to combating the urgent situation facing our community.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
With your support we’ll be able to compensate community leaders who have lost their jobs yet continue providing language expertise for the educational videos. We’ll also be able to purchase video equipment and create print materials in Maya languages.
WHO WE ARE:
The Mayan League is a woman led Maya organization created in the 1990s by refugee Maya women and men, and allied brothers and sisters from the sanctuary movement to collectively respond to the human rights crisis in Guatemala and generally, in Central America. As times have changed, cycles of oppression have remained constant. Our leadership is comprised of indigenous leaders and we are grassroots and volunteer driven. We know from our lived experiences the horrors which have affected our countries of origin, the human rights violations occurring at the border and are able to help from our historical knowledge and cultural understanding to best respond to this ongoing regional crisis.
Thank you for your generosity and support! Make a tax-deductible donation to the International Mayan League and help defend Mother Earth, Human Rights and Future Generations! Please consider providing a donation of any amount.
Chjonte, Gracias, Thank you!
If you have questions or need assistance with making a donation, contact Juanita Cabrera Lopez at info@mayanleague.org