Fighting COVID-19 with Ancestral Wisdom in the Amazon

A nonprofit is integrating yoga therapy in the mainstream health care system by training medical providers to use yogic breathing and techniques to treat various maladies.

Latin American women in San Francisco have suffered from post-partum depression, social isolation, and chronic stress at the time of their pregnancies. Run by midwives, the Centering Pregnancy program at the San Francisco General Hospital provides patient-centered care, an environment to speak in Spanish, and a nurturing community for women’s group appointments. The results boast fewer c-sections and pre-term births, and an improvement in emotional support and overall prenatal health.

Post-traumatic stress has dire consequences for U.S. veterans, including an increase in suicide, and not all therapeutic treatments for the disorder have succeeded. To treat and potentially cure the effects of PTSD, the Center for Mind-Body Awareness offers veterans Buddhist-inspired meditation, and mindfulness, as well as skills to develop creative expression.

Native American student graduation rates are much lower than that of any other demographic. The Red Cloud school teaches students on a reservation in South Dakota about the Lakota history to empower the kids and encourage resilience.

After a devastating cyclone changed the nature of local soil, NGOs preserved Indian rice crops by reintroducing traditional rice varieties that can be cultivated even in salt-ridden earth. Although some first met this idea with skepticism, many farmers have now adopted the practice after witnessing the success of the crops.

Property rights, circumscribed jurisdictions, and conflicts with neighbors exacerbate Native American efforts to restore tribal land and resources. Some tribes have found success by tapping into a trend of support from the government and conservationists.

With a global food crisis, farmers look for how to get long-term high yields out of difficult farmland. In Oaxaca, Mexico, farmers farm like a forest, eat low on the food chain, restore damaged land, and have reverence for the planet.

Immigrants from Laos farming in California are using traditional knowledge and small-scale farming to make farming economically viable. While Hmong farmers face cultural challenges, they are looking to sustain and expand their businesses to new markets.

The vast majority of births in Malawi still happen under the care of traditional birth attendants, who are often unequipped to deal with potentially lethal complications. But new president Joyce Banda is helping Malawi’s women to abandon dangerous childbirth customs by working with the custodians of local practices: village chiefs.

In the face of the deadliest Ebola outbreak in modern history, health officials found themselves struggling to prevent the virus from spreading due to clashes with local traditions, cultural mistrust of outsiders, conflict, and misconceptions about healthcare in West Africa. To effectively treat patients and stop the spread of the disease, organizations had to work closely with locals and adapt procedures to incorporate their culture.