By Margaret Blood | Founder/Executive Director
“We aren’t hungry now because of the food from Mil Milagros. That’s important because when we are hungry, we can’t do our school work well.” - Mil Milagros’s child
Thank you for supporting Mil Milagros’s (A Thousand Miracles) school-nutrition program. We are no longer raising funds through the Global Giving site and invite you to support the children of Mil Milagros at www.milmilagros.org
Our partnership with you and more than 500 indigenous Maya mother and grandmother volunteers in Guatemala is making a lasting difference in the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable children. Highlights includes:
- 500+ mothers and grandmothers have learned about nutrition and hygiene, and how to prepare nourishing meals using the beautiful foods grown here in Guatemala. “We have new knowledge that is very important for us, our children, our families, and our communities,” according to one of our mother volunteers.
- The children love the meals, are learning to eat different kinds of vegetables, and relish the fresh fruit that Mil Milagros provides for them each school day. As one child explained, “The food is important because it makes us healthy and strong. It helps our bodies and we like to eat the vegetables and fruit.”
- The children are drinking water! This is something we may take for granted in the U.S. and the U.K., but there is no culture of drinking water in Guatemala where 98% of the water supply is reported (by the Ministry of Health) to be contaminated. MM has installed water filters in early school classroom and kitchen and replaced sugary “refrescos” with clean water. As one mother shared, “Before Mil Milagros, the children would get sick from drinking unpurified water.”
- MM has developed a robust school-based health and hygiene program that we are implementing in partnership with our mother and grandmother. The children now brush their teeth and wash their hands regularly, benefit from fluoride varnish (which we taught the mothers to apply), de-licing shampoo, deworming medications, and other essential supports. “I like giving the talks to the children and seeing that they have less lice on their heads. Mil Milagros has done so much to help,” said one mother volunteer.
- MM provides every child with a textbook and each teacher with a guide. We are promoting literacy in our partner schools by implementing a number of strategies including the creation of school lending libraries.One mother observed, “We have seen a change. Now the children bring their books home and are learning to read.”
An average of 96% of the sixth graders in Mil Milagros’s partner schools have graduated over the past four years, compared to the national average of just 40%. In the words of one mother leader, “Before the children were only making it to fourth grade. But not anymore. Now most are completing sixth grade.” And now these children have a solid foundation on which to pursue a better life. Mil gracias from all of us at Mil Milagros.
Links:
By Carolyn Daly | In-Country Director
By Megan Banick | In-Country Deputy Director
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