The Tortuga Project

Introduction to the Metaproblem

Across the world, childbirth is becoming increasingly medicalized. Governments and hospitals impose sterile, systemized practices that disconnect mothers from nature, ceremony, and spirit. This erases ancient birthing traditions, inflicts trauma, and silences the midwives who have safeguarded generations of women and families. Once lost, this sacred lineage of wisdom cannot be recovered.

Core Problem in the Bioregion

In Guatemala, the situation is especially urgent:

• One of the highest maternal mortality rates in Latin America.
• Mothers pressured into hospital births, separated from ancestral practices.
• Elders discouraged from practicing their knowledge.
• Young women face cultural and financial barriers to training as midwives.

Without intervention, Maya midwifery - a spiritual calling rooted in ceremony and ancestral wisdom - risks extinction.

Proposed Solution

We are rematriating Maya midwifery by:

• Offering FREE access to a 6-month Empowerment Through Education program for midwives from Kaqchikel, Mam, Tz’utujil, and K’iche’ regions.
• Covering transport, tuition, meals, and ceremonial materials so no woman is excluded.
• Training and mentoring new midwives with kits, skills, and ongoing support.
• Documenting oral histories from elder midwives to preserve ancestral knowledge.
• Building the Tortuga Birthing Centre: a turtle-shaped, earth-based sanctuary where sacred births and apprenticeship programs can flourish.

Projects Currently Supported Include:

• Training & Empowerment: 45 midwives trained since 2021, 55 professional kits distributed.
• Education & Mentorship: Empowerment Through Education program continuing with 15 midwives in 2025.
• Oral History Preservation: Elder midwives recording their ancestral wisdom.
• The Tortuga Birthing Centre: Inspired by the womb, partially subterranean, built with natural materials, Mayan art, and ceremonial spaces.

What Makes It Unique

• Elder-led and community-guided: Blessed and directed by Mayan midwives such as Nana Ixquik, Nana Reina, and Nana Rosalia.
• Architecture of cosmology: A turtle-shaped sanctuary rooted in Maya worldview, built with earth, stone, wood, and traditional methods.
• Strong alliances: Partnerships with Mayan organizations, councils, and cultural leaders, including Familia Zavala, Utz K’aslemal, The Midwife Project, Ruk’u’x Kawoq, and GuateMaya Retreats.
• Integrated vision: Links ancestral wisdom with contemporary regenerative design and DAO-governed transparency.

Why People Should Donate

• Because every birth is sacred.
• Because Maya midwifery is a spiritual calling passed down through generations — and it’s disappearing.
• Because Indigenous women deserve access to training, resources, and spaces that honor their ancestral role as healers and leaders.
• Because the elders themselves are building this vision, on their own land, in their own way.
• Because your gift sustains a movement born from community, for community, and by community.

Call to Action

Donate today to keep Maya midwifery alive.

Your support ensures:

• Mothers and babies are welcomed into the world in love, ceremony, and sovereignty.
• Youth return to the sacred path of midwifery.
• A birthing sanctuary rooted in Maya cosmology becomes a living landmark of cultural resilience.

Every contribution tears down barriers. Together, we can raise $8,000 this season to empower 15 Maya midwives — and $25,000 to complete the Tortuga Birthing Centre.