With the start of June, we will be heading into our 4th and final month of our pilot Nutrition Education Program at Aliñambi. I can't believe it. We have completed all our cooking classes and garden classes with the kids and are now onto more difficult curriculum here in the last month.
In the kitchen we cooked 5 meals including Honey Chicken with Rosemary, Fruit Salad, Rice Salad with Spring Vegetables, Acelga Soup with Vegetables and the always-a-hit Zucchini Bread. As those recipes were just the tip of the iceberg. Needless to say we cooked up a storm with these kids and they all seemed to love it! Each week we assigned ingredients to each kid that they were responsible for bringing. We wanted them to start to gain a sense of responsibility in the kitchen and start them on the track towards self-efficacy in their nutritional lives. Many didn't know what a lot of the ingredients were so by having them have to search and discover new fruits and vegetables, they will *hopefully* now start to realize the healthy variety available to them!
Cooking with Valeria, Sasha, and Jose!
(I apologize for the scary looking black eye
I'm sporting...soccer)
Jackie did a great job with the kids in the garden. Group 1's plot is sprouting some carrots, lettuce, and herbs beautifully, though much to the regret of Group 2, whose plot isn't looking too hot. Jackie taught them about the negative effects of pesticides and how they effect our health as well as about composting and she even took on the carbon cycle!
Group 1's flourishing garden on the right,
Group 2, not so much :(
Many days with this project we get overwhelmed and frustrated. Needless to say we have learned a lot about Ecuadorian school systems and discipline and even a few cultural clashes here and there. One day in the kitchen when we were almost at our whits end after suspending 5 kids from the kitchen the week prior, something amazing happened. I was talking to Jennifer, one of our best students, while she was eating the beautifully prepared meal for the day. In the midst of talking she informed me that she made Potatoes with Rosemary (one of the first recipes we did with the kids) in her house with her dad for Mother's Day. She said she cooked and helped her dad and her whole family loved them! I was so excited and so touched, I was at a loss for words. That day made the entire past months of hardships worth it. If we are even affecting the lives of one of these kids, than it has all been worth it. That piece of news Jennifer gave me made me again step back and appreciate why I am here and how amazing it all really is.
Jennifer giving her stellar interview!
Today was the first Friday on non-kitchen and gardening activities. On Tuesday, I taught the kids how to give an interview and how to professionally conduct themselves. Today, we went out into the community and each of them conducted interviews to food-store owners. Despite their nervousness, most of them did fabulous and it was great to see their sense of accomplishment when they were finished. This is just the beginning of a serious of activities we have planned for the kids in their quest towards self esteem and self efficacy in their lives.
So, only one more month until we wrap up this pilot program and assess its success and possible future. Yikes! I will keep you posted upon its end!
A warm Ecuadorian embrace,
Krysta
