Feed a Guatemalan Child-Improve Grade 6 Completion

Dear Mil Milagros Amigos-

As we approach the end of 2013, we are thrilled to share an update on our progress. Over the last three months, Mil Milagros staff and partner communities have been engaged in planning meetings, school graduations, and our annual gathering of mother and grandmother leaders.

With your help this year, we fed 829 children, worked with 459 mother and grandmother volunteers to ensure a healthy meal each school day, helped instill healthy hygiene habits, provided fluoride varnish treatments to all school-aged children with the help of 30 mother volunteers who we trained to apply the varnish, reduced the likelihood that over 200 babies and small children will suffer from chronic malnutrition, and launched classes to teach our teachers how to teach English to their students.

Because Mil Milagros’ goal is to ensure that all children in Guatemala graduate from sixth grade healthy, literate, and prepared to continue their education, attending graduations in October (the school year in Guatemala is from January to October.) is an exciting time for MM and our partner communities.  According to USAID, only 40% of Guatemalans graduate from sixth grade.  Over the last three years, 96% of sixth graders in MM’s partner schools have graduated.

In late October and early November, Mil Milagros staff organized meetings with our partner communities to plan for a successful 2014.  We met with parents, teachers, principals, and town council members to unite forces around our shared goal of improving the health and education of the children.  In each community, we asked for recommendations and feedback. One mother leader responded, “Mil Milagros has helped our community a lot.  There are a lot of children who don’t have anything to eat at home, but they come to school and get a healthy lunch and can learn better.”

Finally, last week we held a gathering of 53 of our volunteer mother and grandmother leaders to thank them for their partnership, to celebrate their dedication to their children and communities, and to think about how we can be as successful as possible in 2014.  Mothers played games, created their own conflict resolution skits, learned new recipes, and shared their dreams for 2014.  One of our mother leaders shared, “I want every child to be able to eat fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods.  I want them to be able to drink clean water and be healthy.” 

Mil Milagros thanks you for working with us to help make this dream come true. 

Links:

• http://www.milmilagros.org
• http://milmilagros.tumblr.com

Dear Mil Milagros Amigos-

Since our last update, Mil Milagros has welcomed a new staff member, taken board members and guests to visit our partner schools and communities, trained 14 mother volunteers to apply fluoride varnish to 525 children, launched weekly English classes for a group of 10 highly motivated  teachers, and partnered with 459 mother and grandmother volunteers to provide a nourishing snack and/or lunch to 825 eager children each school day.  We are thrilled to share our progress with you, the donors who help to make all of this possible for $1.00 per child per day

We are delighted to welcome Lucy Aj, our first full-time Nutrition and Hygiene Coordinator, Lucy, who is tri-lingual, is from Santa Lucia Utatlán, where three of our partner communities are located.  She will be working with our mother and grandmother volunteers to continue to improve menu quality, cooking techniques, hygiene, and to help maintain excellent communication between Mil Milagros and our six partner communities.  Lucy will also partner with teachers to implement the Healthy Schools program, which was developed by the Peace Corps and is endorsed by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education to promote healthy and hygienic environments in the schools.

Since it is important for children to be healthy and practice good hygiene habits, Mil Milagros takes oral health very seriously.  Many of the children never had a toothbrush before Mil Milagros arrived in their schools and the oral health problems were severe.  Earlier this year, Kathy Held, a professor from the Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine, came to Guatemala to teach MM staff and mother volunteers s how to apply fluoride varnish to the children’s teeth, protecting them against cavities and decay.  In July, we received a generous donation of 600 Embrace fluoride applications from Pulpdent, a Boston-based worldwide distributor of dental products. Since then,we have trained 14 mother volunteers to apply the varnish at three “clinics” in our partner schools.  After her son received the fluoride varnish, one mother said, “Thank you for doing this.  Our children have never had anything like this and they need it.”

In, August we began English classes for a group of 10 teachers from Mil Milagros’s partner schools.  Last year, we conducted focus groups with the teachers to ask them what areas they needed more support and training.  The teachers asked for help teaching Englishas they are required to teach it twice a week and have no training in English.  After spreading the word for several months that we were looking for anEnglish teacher, Evelyn Hurtado, a phenomenal educatorr at a local private school, told us that when she came to Guatemala from New Mexico last year, she had hoped to be to do teacher training with local educators.  For Mil Milagros and our partner teachers, it was a perfect match.  The teachers travel  two to four hours round trip every Friday  to learn English and new teachingtechniques.   After the first class, one teacher commented, “I really like this class because she (Evelyn) is teaching us great strategies to use in the classroom.”

 Mil Milagros continues to partner with amazing mother and grandmother volunteers in six communities to provide a healthy snack and/or lunch to 825 hungry children each school day.  The mothers in our partner communities are true leaders.  As oneight-year-old child in one of our partner schools said, “I’m so proud of my mom because she comes to the school to help make my lunch.”  We, at Mil Milagros, couldn’t be prouder of our mother volunteerss and everything they do to ensure that their children graduate from sixth grade healthy, literate and prepared to continue their education.