You Are What You Eat

Charlas! Portfolios! Cooking Classes! School Garden! Oh my! If you think those sound fun, just imagine the excitement and enthusiasm coming from our 6th graders each week as we walk in the gates at Aliñambi to do just those. After 7 months working with Aliñambi and nutrition with little physical evidence, I am thoroughly ecstatic to say the least about starting this Nutrition Program with the kids there.  I believe through these kids is where we will be able to really initiate a change towards healthy lifestyles for these communities.

Along with Profes Haley and Jackie we will be teaching nutrition through charlas (lectures), thought provoking portfolio work, and hands-on cooking classes and a class garden. Every Tuesday I will be leading the class through charlas and portfolio work based on topics from the food pyramid to macro and micronutrients to hygiene. And every Friday Chef Haley and Sous Chef Krysta will be leading the culinary trainees with watchful eyes as they learn to wash and cut vegetables and make healthy meals using all local goods. Farmer Jackie and Farmhand Bibi will be leading the apprentices in designing and building their own garden to include radishes, lettuce, broccoli, cilantro, and basil…can anyone else see delicious salads in our future?!  Yum!

            Today we finished our second full week of class and despite a few punishments after a dirt-throwing jaunt everything has gone great. I truly believe in these kids’ ability to succeed in this program and their capacity to realize they have control over their nutritional lives and can promote permanent change at home.

So we didn’t realize we were not allowed to take photos at the school, so these are a few and probably the only pictures we will have for evidence that this program actually took place. Enjoy them while they’re hot.

Me and a few of our students making 

recycled paper!

Hard at work flattening the newly made paper

Maria, Frida and Valeria

Digging up the plot for our future 6th

grade garden

  The garden starting to take shape

after 2 hours of work!

This coming week the students will be taking a field trip down the street to check out a local producers garden and get some tips for how to have a successful garden!

Until next post,

Krysta