Last week I promised some additional detail on the Spotlight on Nutrition Program going on at Sarkis Zourabyan Kindergarten. To begin with some background information, Sarkis Zourabyan Kindergarten and YWCA of Armenia share a building. The YWCA grew out of the kindergarten and everything they do, they do together. It's been a really fulfilling partnership for both organizations since the YWCA has access to professional contacts and supplies that a kindergarten wouldn't normally have. The kindergarten provides the YWCA with a steady stream of families, beneficiaries, and easy advertising. About 80% of projects are a collaboration, including the fundraising for windows. When I first arrived at the YWCA last August, I was greeted by 40 smiling faces. They get cuter every day and always seem quite excited to see "Anker Elmy." I eat lunch with the kids and their teachers every day and have held a few singing lessons where we learned the songs Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, F is for Fun and the ABCs. |
It was during lunch when I noticed what the kids were eating. It was always bread with rice or noodles. No dairy, no fruit and no vegetables. (Meat is expensive and not a staple in the everyday diet so not seeing that was expected.) After I got to know the teachers enough so it wouldn't seem like I was criticizing them, I asked why the kids were only eating grains and no other food. Their response was simple. We can't afford to feed them other food. Dairy goes bad quickly and we have no way to store it. We occasionally have fruit and vegetables but they go bad and the children rarely eat them anyway. I wanted to change it.
Together with Eliza, my counterpart, and Aida we wrote a grant proposal to not only have food for the children to eat, but to get materials to educate them and their parents about the importance of nutrition. In the grant proposal we also a request for a refrigerator (to store food products) and money for a mural to be painted on the wall. The proposal was accepted in early August and shortly after, we received approximately $460 from Focus on Children Now, a non profit located in California, to help us get this project started.
If you want to check them out, their website is below.
www.focusonchildrennow.org
We purchased our supplies right before I went on vacation and in my absence, my wonderful coworkers got the project started. In our proposal we stated we would have six lessons for children and four lessons for adults. After we wrote the curriculum (borrowing heavily from the Border to Border health curriculum) the classes were a breeze. The kids got to "go shopping" and could only check out when their meals were representative of all the food groups. They got to color pictures of food and put them on a rainbow to learn about different vitamins your body needs. They got to play with water, talk about hydration while hydrating some of our office plants. With parents, our lessons were a bit more complicated and focused on feedings kids well rounded meals (STOP THE MADNESS WITH ALL THE BREAD!) and drinking. Adults probably drink 20-30 cups of coffee a week, 10-15 cups of tea and maybe 1 cup of water a week based on my observations. A lot of our class time with the parents is focused on the importance of water and the effects of other drinks on your kidneys and liver (with alcohol.) The project doesn't end until the end of October but we're already confident that this program will be successful. The kids are thrilled when the lessons begin and we're getting good feedback from the parents. One child even approached me in the hallway where I was taking a break and drinking a coke and asked me, "Why aren't you drinking water?" Oops!
Together with Eliza, my counterpart, and Aida we wrote a grant proposal to not only have food for the children to eat, but to get materials to educate them and their parents about the importance of nutrition. In the grant proposal we also a request for a refrigerator (to store food products) and money for a mural to be painted on the wall. The proposal was accepted in early August and shortly after, we received approximately $460 from Focus on Children Now, a non profit located in California, to help us get this project started.
If you want to check them out, their website is below.
www.focusonchildrennow.org
We purchased our supplies right before I went on vacation and in my absence, my wonderful coworkers got the project started. In our proposal we stated we would have six lessons for children and four lessons for adults. After we wrote the curriculum (borrowing heavily from the Border to Border health curriculum) the classes were a breeze. The kids got to "go shopping" and could only check out when their meals were representative of all the food groups. They got to color pictures of food and put them on a rainbow to learn about different vitamins your body needs. They got to play with water, talk about hydration while hydrating some of our office plants. With parents, our lessons were a bit more complicated and focused on feedings kids well rounded meals (STOP THE MADNESS WITH ALL THE BREAD!) and drinking. Adults probably drink 20-30 cups of coffee a week, 10-15 cups of tea and maybe 1 cup of water a week based on my observations. A lot of our class time with the parents is focused on the importance of water and the effects of other drinks on your kidneys and liver (with alcohol.) The project doesn't end until the end of October but we're already confident that this program will be successful. The kids are thrilled when the lessons begin and we're getting good feedback from the parents. One child even approached me in the hallway where I was taking a break and drinking a coke and asked me, "Why aren't you drinking water?" Oops!
During this project I've become painfully aware that proper nutrition is a luxury few can afford. After the project time is over, we still can't ensure the kids will have complete meals but we're trying and that's comforting. Fruit and vegetables are expensive. Hopefully we'll figure out a more permanent solution.
Before I change tracks to other topics, I want to explain the mural on the wall. We wanted to decorate the kitchen a bit because it was simply falling apart and decided that painting a "My Food Plate" on the wall would bring some color to the room and have a semi-permenent reminder of what we learned in this program. I had a meeting the day they were set to paint, but I explained to them what it was, gave one of them a photo and then left. As you can see, it's not even close. But that's ok! We've all grown to love the tree and think it's much prettier than the plate ever could have been.
In this upcoming week we're going to start a second project funded by Peace Corps themselves and USAID. It is a job training program for unemployed people and business owners. The first month or so will be doing all prep work, signing contracts, making schedules, but I'll make a similar post to this one once we get it off the ground and have some tangible results to show off. We also hope to have the window installers out again to install 7 new windows this week! I'm so excited! These windows are funded by the Milwaukee Area Peace Corps Association (thanks guys!!) along with five new contributors from Indiegogo that responded to our request that was distributed in the World YWCA Newsletter. (Our appeal was read by over 10,000 people!)
To take change the topic to something less work related...
It came to my attention last week that I haven't posted a single picture of Davit, my new host brother! As Louiza would say, "Choops!" (Her attempt to say "oops.")
So here he is!!
Before I change tracks to other topics, I want to explain the mural on the wall. We wanted to decorate the kitchen a bit because it was simply falling apart and decided that painting a "My Food Plate" on the wall would bring some color to the room and have a semi-permenent reminder of what we learned in this program. I had a meeting the day they were set to paint, but I explained to them what it was, gave one of them a photo and then left. As you can see, it's not even close. But that's ok! We've all grown to love the tree and think it's much prettier than the plate ever could have been.
In this upcoming week we're going to start a second project funded by Peace Corps themselves and USAID. It is a job training program for unemployed people and business owners. The first month or so will be doing all prep work, signing contracts, making schedules, but I'll make a similar post to this one once we get it off the ground and have some tangible results to show off. We also hope to have the window installers out again to install 7 new windows this week! I'm so excited! These windows are funded by the Milwaukee Area Peace Corps Association (thanks guys!!) along with five new contributors from Indiegogo that responded to our request that was distributed in the World YWCA Newsletter. (Our appeal was read by over 10,000 people!)
To take change the topic to something less work related...
It came to my attention last week that I haven't posted a single picture of Davit, my new host brother! As Louiza would say, "Choops!" (Her attempt to say "oops.")
So here he is!!
I know you can all tell he's the cutest baby ever known to the universe, but in the act of full disclosure I feel the need to tell you that 95% of the time he looks more like the photo below.
He's given me an interesting insight into having children. I thought it would be so awesome and easy because Bella and Louiza are awesome and easy, but now I know there are years and years of poop and tears and screams and strange childhood diseases (diphtheria!) to make it through to get to the ease and fun.
When I need a break from all the craziness, I've been heading to my site mate's house for some peace and quiet. Although there's a major distraction there as well.
When I need a break from all the craziness, I've been heading to my site mate's house for some peace and quiet. Although there's a major distraction there as well.
Kitti was found on the side of the road by Alissa, another Noyemberyan PCV, just over a week ago. She was skinny, sickly and crying frantically. Unable to resist the cuteness, she took Kitti home and has been slowly nursing her back to health. In just the past week, she's grown in size significantly and even has a tiny potbelly that gets filled every day with hot dogs and milk.
That's it for now! I hope everybody has a happy Sunday and I really hope to post some photos of our new windows next week!!
That's it for now! I hope everybody has a happy Sunday and I really hope to post some photos of our new windows next week!!