Fight Child Malnutrition in Rural Guatemala

The end of the school year is upon us here in Santiago Atitlan! As the year comes to a close, Pueblo a Pueblo staff have been very busy collecting data for the School Health and Nutrition Program. This data collection involved traveling to our partner schools to measure the height and weight of students participating in our School Nutrition Project. The children thoroughly enjoyed being part of the evaluation process, and meeting more of Pueblo a Pueblo’s field staff!

These students, most of whom would not otherwise have access to healthy meals, each receive one delicious and nutritious breakfast every day at school. Having these healthy meals right when they arrive reduces the immediate hunger these children would normally feel, allowing them to better concentrate and participate in class throughout the day and be more successful students in the long-term!

The School Health and Nutrition Program has also been hosting cooking classes to teach children how to properly prepare the produce they are growing in their gardens, focusing on the preparation of vegetables. Most recently, the sixth grade class at San Andres School learned how to cook spinach for themselves – and they loved it! Local mothers have also been learning how to cook more nutritious meals for their kids. At La Cumbre School, ten mothers also took part in creative cooking classes. They learned how to properly prepare spinach from the gardens with spices and herbs such as amaranth and chard. Having the mothers also partake in this learning experience increases the likelihood that their families will have healthier eating habits at home!

In November, our program will host a vacation course at each school garden. The students will learn more gardening basics and plant cultivation, along with basic cooking skills to prepare simple recipes from the various produce in their gardens. It will be a very fun and educational experience for everyone, and we are very much looking forward to it!

As the rainy season begins in Guatemala’s Western Highlands, students and teachers are working hard to clean up their school gardens and get ready for the next harvest season. Our newest partner school, Nueva Vida, is aiming to finish constructing their new school garden before the rains come. They have already been able to start planting nutritious fruits and vegetables and are teaching students about organic composts and insecticides.  

Pueblo a Pueblo’s garden technicians are also busy turning the Panabaj organic garden into a demonstration garden used to educate new partners on the principles of organic gardening and a diverse and nutritious diet. Staff is weeding, planting new fruits and vegetables, and installing more compost areas. They will soon be helped by 14 teenagers from the Panabaj community, who in return, will be able to sell the produce from the garden in local markets to earn some additional income for their families.  

We are also beginning to phase out of two schools, Chacaya and La Cumbre, where we have collaborated on constructing and maintaining the garden project for the past four years. The schools have been extremely successful -with La Cumbre harvesting over 700 pounds of produce last year alone! We know that they will continue to care for their gardens and incorporate the harvested fruits and vegetables into nutritious and delicious school meals.

The rainy season always makes upkeep of the gardens more difficult due to flooding, an influx of harmful insects, and the re-growth of weeds. Nonetheless, the students in the Santiago Atitlan and San Lucas Toliman municipalities are as excited as ever about their school gardens and the produce that the rainy season will bring!