Fight Child Malnutrition in Rural Guatemala

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!