Empowering Indigenous Youth for a Healthy Future

The end of October marked the end of the 2017 school year and the end of our pilot In-School Health Training Campaign. Rising Minds staff worked tirelessly over 2017 to develop the curriculum and to deliver weekly health trainings at our partner preschool, CEIBI, to over 60 Maya indigenous youth! Our campaign consisted of three units: disease prevention, nutrition, and mental health.

We kicked on the campaign with our disease prevention unit. The kids first learned about the three types of microbes: virus, bacteria, and fungus. Using bigger than life drawings of these “scary monsters,” we taught the preschoolers where they can find these microbes and how they can be transmitted. However, we did not forget about beneficial fungi, like yeast and “flor de vinagre.” We learned about our immune system and how it’s functions and its characteristics. From there the students of CEIBI learned about the importance of healthy personal hygiene habits like washing our hands, brushing our teeth, bathing, and sneezing into our elbows to help prevent the spread of germs. Activities such as making our own hand sanitizer and natural toothpaste were well received among kids, teachers, and parents during this unit.

We segued from from our disease prevention unit to our unit on nutrition. During these trainings the kids learned about eating healthy, the evils of junk food (see previous report on the “Story of Mardoqueo”), vitamins, proteins and nutrients. Our classroom trainings were complimented by trainings in CEIBI’s in-school garden and the Rising Minds’ Educational Garden. During our expeditions to the gardens the students got to get their hands dirty planting nutritionally rich seeds, such as kale, lettuce, beets, and chard. We finished the school year with our unit on mental health. These trainings dealt with themes such as self-esteem, self acceptance, and emotions.

With our first series of health trainings coming to an end, we’ve begun to work on the curriculum development for next year. Classes will start in mid-January and we can’t wait to be back at CEIBI on a weekly basis. We also are planning our monthly Family Wide Health Training Initiative to involve the parents of our students. Our In-School Health Training Campaign has been approved by the Ministry of Education and we could not be more thrilled to continue our work in 2018!