Fight Child Malnutrition in Rural Guatemala

Our School Nutrition program team has been busy preparing cooking workshops for mothers and students at Nueva Vida, Nueva Providencia, and Pacoc Primary Schools. Last year, the team had real success with recipes like zucchini spaghetti and swiss chard wraps. This year, they want to focus again on vegetables like zucchini, but will be creating zucchini croquettes and zucchini boats containing cheese.

The moms who participated last year told us that they “loved the trainings,” and they use veggies like zucchini and swiss chard “much more often now. They wanted to learn more recipes with those vegetables. “So we’re incorporating that into this year’s cooking workshops,” explained Sandy Mendoza, the Organic School Gardens Educator.

The team has also been busying leading teacher trainings in the organic school gardens. The team has led two trainings so far at Nueva Vida Primary School. These trainings focused on using the organic school garden as an educational tool in the classroom. “The organic gardens aren’t only for the nourishment of the school community,” explained Sandy.  “Students are learning powerful lessons about math, science, and more.”

Now as we move into the rainy season, teachers and students are focused on ways to prevent over-watering of their plants. They diligently check to see if the plants are sitting in standing water, or if water is draining correctly from the soil. With a healthy garden and healthy recipes, communities are well-equipped with tools to nourish themselves and their families.