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Thank you to all of our supporters who replied to our survey! In the past month, MAM has also received responses to the survey we sent out to our Maya colleagues regarding online education. There were fewer responses than we had anticipated, and this tells us that other priorities are still likely pressing as the pandemic continues throughout much of the world, and in all of the nations where our Maya colleagues reside. However, I would like to share some of the responses we received, and to summarize what we are learning thus far that has helped to shape our plans to inaugurate a long-awaited, online mini-grant program beginning this summer.
For those Maya colleagues who would still like to respond to our survey, we would love to hear from you! You may do so at the following link, as it helps us to assess the various needs and possibilities for online learning. Please note that this survey is intended for our Maya friends who have either facilitated workshops in the past, or those who would be interested in teaching online or producing online educational videos about the Maya script that we could post on our website:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5WM6JS6
From the responses we gathered, nearly all Maya facilitators reported that they have regular online access, but 50% replied that their students and community members do not have regular internet access. 70% have had experience teaching online through either Zoom or Google Meet. 90% of our respondents replied that they would be willing to teach MAM-sponsored workshops online, while 80% are interested in recording educational videos to post on our website.
While there is a great interest in teaching online or recording educational videos, 70% of those who replied stated that they would require training, which tells us that we need to focus some of our efforts in this regard. While there are various needs in each community, many have asked for unlimited time on Zoom, which would enable them to more easily facilitate both synchronous classes or to record asynchronous educational videos. In some cases, there are needs for computer equipment, programs, and published resources. Given the lack of reliable internet in many Maya communities, it may make more sense to begin by funding projects to record and posting online educational videos where synchronous classes may not be possible.
60% of those who responded were from various states in Mexico, 30% were from Guatemala, and 10% were from Belize. Here are some of the responses regarding the various challenges different Maya communities have been facing during the pandemic in several different countries:
“My community, like other Mayan communities, has been suffering from the total abandonment of the central government concerning the health of the communities. It is a bit difficult to focus only my community, as the problem is throughout the country of Guatemala, all of which is suffering. The problem where the pandemic has us is now complicated above all in the communities where there are still not vaccines for everyone.”
“In advance we appreciate your concern and interest, we find ourselves very well, just as our community has been isolated from the city to avoid contagions, our children receive every month of the visit of their teachers to exchange tasks.”
“Yaxunah is a community where all people are supported. It is a strong community that knows how to get ahead little by little. There were suspected cases of the Covid-19, but they ended up being a common cold. We are well in Yaxunah—nothing more than a natural disaster has hit us, but we knew we had to get ahead of it.”
“In the Mayan communities of Quintana Roo, many cultural and educational activities have been paused in person, and many of the courses, workshops or reports have been presented through different digital platforms and with the help of social networks. Thanks to platforms such as Zoom and Meet, we have been able to establish bond links with our students, where the Ts’iib’ system has also been present as a reference of the artistic and cultural legacy of our community, as well as the use of the Cholqij, calendar, It has been presented as a guide for the understanding of the cycle of the days and have been shared on timely occasions to understand the rains and the lunar phases.”
“Thank you very much for giving the survey, but I consider that there are many things to clarify that MAM should know or understand, and it is only to remind you here that many Maya communities or indigenous peoples do not even have a school. Maya children and youth have to walk many hours to get to their school, and our goal is to bring the workshops to them and to those forgotten communities.”
“In my community we have had several cases of COVID19 and a few deaths. I had my students learning prehispanic music, which had to be halted because we could not get together to practice. Therefore, I involved them in backyard gardening. With the help of the ministry of agriculture, each child had a piece of land tilled and receives seedlings of cucumber, radish, habanero peppers, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkin and cilantro. A few weeks ago we had a thanksgiving Mayan ceremony where the children participated. They said their prayers in Maya T’aan. Now, I am thinking of involving them in arts such as embroidery and weaving.”
We send our heartfelt wishes for healing and resilience to our Maya friends, and we encourage all Maya facilitators who wish to engage in online teaching to complete our survey. We hope to be able to help in whatever way possible to keep hope alive, and to continue our work of bringing literacy in the Maya Tz’iib’ to continuing generations of Maya people as we launch our online mini-grant program in the coming month. We are strategizing about the best ways to roll out our new mini-grant program to suit the needs of each applicant.
Here is wishing all of us a summer of hope, healing, learning, and love!
Maltyox, Yum Bo’otik.
Sincerely,
Michael Grofe, President
MAM