Frequently Asked Questions
Information about the People We Help
Who are the people that Casa Colibrà helps?
Casa Colibrà helps the indigenous Maya of northwest Guatemala who are needy in the extreme. Many of the people are refugees who fled their ancestral land during the 36-year genocidal civil war. Even though they returned home after the Peace Accords were signed in 1996, they still lack basic services such as clean water, electricity, and sanitation.
Why don't the Maya in this area have access to medical care?
There are approximately 400 villages in the minicipality of Barillas, province of Huehuetenango. Only eight doctors serve the population of 98,000. Those doctors are based in the city of Barillas. The people who live in the villages have no access to medical care because they live in remote areas and lack transportation. Even in urgent situations, it is often impossible to transport a patient to the nearest emergency facility, some three or four hours away by truck on very bad roads.