THE COVID LOW-DOWN

THE COVID-19 LOWDOWN

How ODIM responded to the devastating effects of COVID-19 in our communities

TABOO

There is significant stigma in our communities around catching COVID. This causes denial, refusal to test for COVID or get vaccinated, resulting in unmitigated spread. ODIM’S RESPONSE: Our staff are encouraged to talk openly with clients and the community in general about getting COVID tests and about their personal experiences with COVID. ODIM has published regular community videos with individuals sharing their stories.

HAZY FACTS

With low testing rates and sporadic test availability, it is very hard to know how many cases there are in our communities. ODIM’S RESPONSE: Although the Guatemalan govern‐ment issues color-coded updates for each region, our PPE protocol has remained at Red Alert level since 2020 because we understand that there is no way of knowing. Based on internal and external studies, we can assume actual case numbers are at least 50% higher than reported (likely more in San Pablo where testing is extremely uncommon).

VACCINES

As with most developing countries, the roll out of vaccines in Guatemala has been extremely slow and complicated com‐pared to the US, Canada and Europe. Surprisingly, vaccines have been readily available in our communities to all adults since August 2021 but uptake has been slow. By the end of 2021 only 26% of Guatemalans had been fully vaccinated. ODIM’S RESPONSE:ODIM has led the way in the region to break the taboo around vaccines by disseminating infor‐mation, giving classes, hosting webinars, and producing and disseminating videos of our own vaccine experiences. As with all of ODIM’s work, these efforts are focused on ensuring information is spread in Tz’utujil and other local Mayan languages, and led by local community members.

EDUCATION

In Guatemala, Spanish is the official language, but many of our community members do not speak or understand infor‐mation in Spanish, as the Mayan languageTz’utujilis their first language. Most information in Guatemala around the pandemic is issued only in Spanish. For many of our com‐munity members, most information is gathered through family members, neighbors and friends from the commu‐nity so that misinformation can spread like wildfire. ODIM’S RESPONSE: ODIM staff received regular training around COVID and vaccines and pass on informa‐tion formally through our community groups, as well as informally through their contacts in the community. ODIM focuses on spoken information (rather than producing written leaflets) because of high levels of illiteracy.

PARTNERSHIPS

In a rare moment in history, we were all focused on the same thing. The Ministry of Health, local governments and nonprofits of every description have all been focused on how to combat, live, and thrive within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so much distrust and uncertainty, the importance and trust in non-profits in the region surged and has created excellent opportunities for collaboration. ODIM’S RESPONSE: ODIM saw this moment as a great opportunity and stepped up our work with our contacts and partners. We created a network of NGOs across the Sololá department and facilitated the first collaboration of its kind; bringing together messages from 16 nonprofits in a video to promote COVID vaccination in five languages.