Fight Child Malnutrition in Rural Guatemala

With the start of the Guatemalan school year in January came three exciting changes to our Organic School Gardens and Nutrition project.

One of the most exciting changes was the transition of leadership in the organic gardens at the La Cumbre and Chacaya Elementary Schools, as part of the 4^th phase of their participation in our project.

In each school, committees composed of local educators, parents, and student representatives are now managing all aspects of the school gardens. Our project technicians are still available to provide assistance when necessary, but the committees are ultimately responsible for maintaining the garden and for ensuring that nutrition education continues for their elementary-aged students.  

We’re extremely proud to see our first project partners begin this new chapter in their organic school gardens and we’re looking forward to seeing how the gardens change and grow under their leadership!

As La Cumbre and Chacaya begin phasing out of the program, Nueva Vida is starting to phase in. Nueva Vida is a very rural community with an elementary school serving 277 students. In December we launched a collaboration with the Nueva Vida Elementary School to implement an organic school garden. With the help of local teachers and parents, we have already cleared the land and built the foundation for the garden. Soon we will start planting and in May, our project technicians will begin teaching students about the fruits, vegetables and herbs that will be growing in their garden.

Last but not least, in our November report, we told you that we were starting to serve breakfast in three of our partner communities. Due to the immediate change we saw in students’ behavior, we decided to implement breakfast, instead of lunch, in all of our partner school and have already seen the positive effect this change has had on students’ attention and participation in morning classes!     

We are very excited about the 2015 school year because we know that the knowledge and experience students gain while working in their organic school gardens and through their nutrition classes will change the common narrative of long-term food insecurity and malnutrition in rural Guatemala. By focusing today on tomorrow’s leaders, we are ensuring a healthier future for indigenous Guatemalan communities.