By Stephanie Ahlgrain | Manager of Fundraising at Amextra
Dear friend,
We have some exciting plans to tell you about for nutrition and food security project with tzotzil indigenous families in Chiapas. From November 10 to 16th we had our annual all-staff training, in which 35 staff members from every region where Amextra currently works participated in a series of technical workshops, recieved reminders of Amextra´s values, practiced skills for conflict resolution, and learned a ton of beneficial information that will enrich their work next year.
During this training we also had time to refine out 2020 annual plans. The team of Los Altos, Chiapas has some exciting plans for their health and nutrition project! Here are three that stand out.
First, this year the local team will be partnering with a local elementary school to carry out height, weight, and hemoglobin testing of kids from 6 to 12 years old. We have been monitoring the 0-6 age range population for the past two years, and this year we have an opportunity to expand our attention to a wider range of kids. Us being us, we´ve decided to assume the challenge!
Second, also at this local elementary school we will be having clasees two times per month on healthy diets and the value of producing our own food. The school garden will be finished in the first trimester of 2020. We have the goal incorporate three native vegetable species in this garden to benefit the nutrition of the students. This combination of the school garden, nutrtion information, and height weight measurement will help us gear our accompaniment toward the real and most pressing needs of the families in this area. We can´t wait!
Third, we will be holding the second annual gastronomic fair in 2020, in which the families we work with prepare a healty recipe using the principles learned from the nutritionist. This recipe is then shared at a pot luck type event with other families in the community. The event was a huge sucess in 2019, with families showing enthusiasm to create a creative recipe, work with Amextra to get the materials they need, and then to present and share their healthy creation with others.
While the current state of nutrtion in the region is grim, we are inspired by the small, incremental changes we´ve seen this year. Stay with us to see how the school project and other nutrition advances go in 2020!
Wishing you a great holiday season,
Stephanie
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