The Maya women sit patiently in the lobby of Clinica Oscar Romero, playing with their children and speaking in their native dialects of Kanjobal and Quiche.
Idalia Xuncax knows all of the women. She is their guide, translator and advocate in a healthcare world so foreign from their villages in Guatemala, where many relied on herbal medicines and faith healers.
For eight years, Xuncax -- who is also Maya -- has reached out to other Mayas and gained the trust of a community that has generally been reluctant to seek Western medical treatment. Largely because of Xuncax's work, the number of Maya patients at the Los Angeles clinic has grown from just a few eight years ago to about 700 today. Many have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
But despite the gains, Xuncax and the clinic on Alvarado Street face daunting obstacles, including a shortage of interpreters and cultural differences that deter Mayas from seeking care, which can affect their health. Xuncax struggles constantly to get patients to show up for appointments and to take their medicine. She has to convince them that prenatal care won't harm the fetus and that unprotected sex can lead to HIV.
"It's not that they don't want to be helped or be healthy," Xuncax said. "Mostly, it's cultural, that we don't see doctors where we are from. We don't have the flexibility of having a hospital or a clinic nearby."
Some of the issues Xuncax encounters with her Guatemalan patients are commonly dealt with by doctors and nurses in California working with indigenous populations from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, experts said. Healthcare providers must realize that patients may come to a hospital or a clinic but are also seeking medical guidance from community elders and taking herbal medicines, said David Hayes-Bautista, who directs UCLA's Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.
"You really need to understand the rest of the medical care world that these folks live in, of which standard Western medicine is only one facet," he said.
Milton Alvarez, Guatemala's consul general in Los Angeles, said healthcare is critical for Guatemalans living here, especially the Mayas, who may never have had regular access to doctors.
Members of the community depend on Clinica Romero to offer health services in their language. Tens of thousands of Mayas, including Kanjobal, Quiche and Mam, live in the area, primarily concentrated in the Pico-Union and Westlake neighborhoods.
