Students from the Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo visited Long Beach for the first time to host a workshop on natural healing practices from Mayan culture on Wednesday.
Roughly 30 people from Cal State Long Beach, students, faculty and Long Beach community members, attended the event at the Centro Salud es Cultura office. The workshop was held entirely in Spanish and Mayan.
Assistant director of CSULB’s Center for Latino and Community Health Miguel Angel said it is the first time an event like this has been held.
“We met them six months ago, and we’re doing collaboration with other institutions in the Yucatán peninsula,” Angel said. “They approached us asking if we’d be interested in an exchange of students and we said, ‘Yes, of course.’”
With a packed room of attendees, Britt Rios-Ellis, professor of health sciences and center for Latino community health, said that she was glad to see a positive outcome, and she emphasized the importance of creating communities.
“By building those linkages and relationships, we hope to ferment a lot of collaboration because the Mayan communities from different places have huge sending communities not only here, but also up to the Salinas Valley in California,” Rios-Ellis said. “And we don’t often realize that a big chunk of the immigrants that come to the U.S. are Mayan, and are coming to learn and celebrate the cultural richness that they have.”
While the presentation focused on traditional Mayan health practices, the discussion ranged from personal experiences to live examples of stomach massages. Some topics presented were “Health and Sickness,” “Diseases in the Yucatan Region” and the “Origin of Diseases and Sickness Within Mayan Culture.”
One of the Mayan students, Cruz German Mendricuti Xec, said in Spanish that he was nervous about his first presentation, but then felt at home.
“I was scared at first because I was in front of a lot of people, but my schoolmates gave me confidence,” Cruz German said. “Being able to share what I know with others made me feel as if I were home. Hopefully when [the attendees] travel elsewhere, they will be able to recognize some plants and put them to use.”
Besides studying medicine at school, the Mayan students also included how they actively stayed involved in promoting and educating their community about traditional health aspects. They showcased theater plays that focused on natural health, held educational fairs and classes and included images of their participation in Día Mundial del Agua, otherwise known as World Water Day.
When the Mayan students focused specifically on plant remedies, attendees immediately began jotting down notes and asking questions.
One plant, like the Cedro, the students said, helps control nose bleeds, whereas the Orégano Grueso helps calm ear pain and eases coughing.
Two attendees also received a Sobada de Cirro — a massage that aims to help the body reach equilibrium.
Angel said that the students will be in California for 10 days and will leave on July 6. Throughout their time in the state, they have already done various presentations with the Mexican Consulate and different clinics to see the differences and similarities between health systems.
“After today, they will be doing a presentation with those who work with herbs and share what they know. They will have a conversation to share knowledge [about various herb and traditional medicine],”he said.
Many attendees, like CSULB graduate student Erika Gonzalez, said it was “interesting” because it was akin to her parents’ culture.
Long Beach resident, Jaime Chavez, also said he cleared his schedule to be attend the workshop.
“I found out about the workshop yesterday through Latinos En Acción, and I made time to be present and hear the presentation,” Chavez said. “I’m from Mexico City, and I know there are many things in Mexico that I may not know exist, like workshops that focus on natural medicine, but this was fantastic.”