Central America

Throughout the world, one woman dies during childbirth every 90 seconds…. While the United States has seen an increase in maternal mortality, Belize is finding ways to improve maternal health.The World Health Organization reports that, with a rate of 11 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies, the U.S. ranks behind more than 40 other countries…. Some health officials say that an increase in the age of pregnant women, as well as obesity, diabetes, and the number of c-sections and induced labors have led to this increase….

On Saturday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m., KOMU-TV (channel 8 in Missouri) aired a half-hour documentary special on The Culture That Crawls, featuring YouTube Project Report Winner Alex Rozier's latest work in Guatemala.

On Monday, December 6 at 10 p.m., KOMU-TV (Channel 8 in Missouri) aired Alex Rozier's piece on the disabled in Guatemala and how a P.E.T (personal energy transportation device) can change someone's life forever.

A wheelchair factory, where all the employees are in wheelchairs themselves, is providing new opportunities for the disabled in Guatemala.

Telling the story of Jessica, a six-year-old girl in Guatemala with cerebal palsy who weighs just 16 pounds, proved to be a more emotional and difficult experience that expected.

Launching his reporting project, The Culture that Crawls, Alex Rozier profiles four individuals in Guatemala who know first-hand the plight of the disabled.

Eleven years ago Dick Rutgers went to Guatemala on a wheelchair distribution and never left. On this day, he focuses his attention on Jessica, a six-year-old girl suffering from cerebral palsy who weighs just 16 pounds.

The two-day trek to El Mirador and the three-day stay was our introduction as a group to Petén, Guatemala.

Photos by David M. Barreda

More than two million Guatemalans live in extreme poverty, and nearly half of the children in Guatemala are malnourished. In some areas, nearly every child is affected.

Most suffer from chronic malnutrition, which means that while they are getting enough calories, the food they eat is severely lacking in vitamins and protein.

As Samuel Loewenberg reports, this poor nutrition affects not only their bodies, but their future.

Last month, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a “state of calamity” as Guatemala experiences the worst drought in 70 years. Approximately half of the population lives below the poverty line and 50 percent of children are suffering from chronic malnutrition. But these are only the surface casualties of a vulnerable nation ravaged by 36 years of civil war, genocide and now, the encroaching drug war spilling over from the northern border with Mexico.

For some of the farmers and ranchers, just getting to the meeting in the capital of the state of Petén, Guatemala, was an ordeal. Scores of them were irritable from having traveled days – first over muddy foot trails, then by pickup truck and minibus on rutted, unpaved roads – to attend a workshop with park rangers. The residents had journeyed in the hope of slowing the government's plan to crack down on illegal land grabs, which for more than a decade had chipped away at the vast but vulnerable Maya Forest – and which were the basis of the farmers' livelihood.

Students at the Pulitzer Center's Campus Consortium member schools were eligible to apply for reporting fellowships of up to $2,000 each and the opportunity to work with the Pulitzer Center staff on an international reporting project. The first three 2009 student fellows have completed their reporting: