The Rural Challenge of COVID-19

For many of the communities we work with in Guatemala, although they have been impacted indirectly by COVID-19, their isolated location has thus far kept them fairly healthy. These communities are in rural, mountainous regions where most members do not leave regularly and visitors are rare.

Unfortunately, this isolation has begun to create a false sense of security. Community members are beginning to doubt the realness of the virus, and are becoming skeptical of government mandates. Much like what’s happening in many regions of the US right now, after several months of quarantining led to a temporary lull in cases, people are regaining courage too soon. 

The biggest concern we have right now as the communities let their guards down is that the Guatemalan government just declared that churches are allowed to open and meet in person. Many of these communities participate in Evangelical churches and restarting regular in-person gatherings will pose a great risk.

During the past few months, the leaders at these churches have been using virtual communications to reach some of their church members, and we are planning to tap into this resource. We are currently in the process of reaching out to church leaders to encourage them not to resume in-person meetings and to use their influence to spread accurate health updates to these communities. 

We are committed to doing our best to continue to communicate with these communities in Indigenous languages through a variety of channels and are hopeful that utilizing church networks will be productive next step.