Full Description

Currently, the teachers of Escuela No. 2993 San Francisco of Cerro Corá prepare breakfast (which most often consists of tortillas and cocido) for the 68 primary school students on a daily basis over a small campfire stove.  However, with the kitchen in the school, healthier breakfast and snacks will be more accessible to each student.  Because of the kitchen, students will be able to eat more because there will be more capacity to make a larger quantity of food.  Currently, the food is prepared outside in an area with a lot of animals, which is not a clean/sanitary space to prepare food.  The kitchen would provide adequate space to prepare food in a maintained and clean environment, which could help prevent food borne illnesses.  A kitchen that provides breakfast and snacks will motivate and gratify students to continue learning in a healthy and comfortable environment. Healthy food will also give them the energy they need to focus on school activities/lessons throughout the day

The school and family homes are places where young people adopt habits that will affect their overall health and lifestyle.  Taking this and the fact that adolescents are especially vulnerable to poor eating habits into account, a community kitchen in the school is necessary to introduce guidelines and give a proper visual example for healthy living and nutrition on a daily basis by providing full meals to students.  A healthy kitchen promotes a suitable environment to educate children about good nutrition and healthy habits by leading by example.  Health is the result of many factors, including family, the environment and school.  There is no doubt that education is a valuable resource to protect against certain illnesses and to stimulate healthy habits.

Project Description

1.     What is the focus of the project?

The focus of this project is to show children the importance of nutrition and healthy kitchens through providing them a healthy breakfast that they would not otherwise receive.

2.     How were the idea and plans for this project generated?

The school is one of the very few community spaces in Cerro Corá, so the community wanted to do a project at the school.  The majority of families in the community are of low-income status, but always think of their children’s wellbeing first.  The community decided a school kitchen would be beneficial to the most community members by helping all families feed their children.

3.     Does the community support the project? If so, how are they demonstrating support?

Cerro Corá showed supported of this project during the first community meeting in which they filled out the CBI solicitud with this project in mind.  The Director of the school and School Committee received support from community members and are organizing fundraisers.  When the Supervisor said the original project was out of AMIGOS’ budget, the community’s enthusiasm persevered, so they changed the CBI to a sink at the school to wash plates, which will have a limited number of the same benefits as the whole kitchen will.

4.     What is the timeline for implementing the project?

Once the materials are purchased and delivered, they will have 3 community members working daily on the project from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m.  They estimated the construction will take 2 weeks. The anticipated date of arrivals for materials in Monday, June 23^rd. 

5.     Who will be involved in implementing the project?

The Director of the school, Maria Victoria Giménez de Meza, will be responsible for organizing a work schedule for the community members.  The workers will consist of people from the community, but mainly the fathers of students.  The community will collaborate with the AMIGOS Volunteers in the community throughout the process.

6.     What future services, if any, will be provided with this project? What organizations have committed to providing them in the future? e.g.: medical services, educational services, library services. Please include supporting letters of commitment for such services.

The Director of the school, Maria Victoria Giménez de Meza, said she and the other teachers will cook for the students, as they have been doing that already.

7.     Who will have overall responsibility for implementing the project?

The Director of the school, Maria Victoria Giménez de Meza, and the committee ACES (Asocación de Cooperación Escolar), which is the committee that supports Escuela No. 2993 San Francisco de Asis.

8.     Who will have the on-going responsibility of upkeep or management after the project has been implemented? (Please list job titles, names, and how they will act as a caretaker or manager).

Although many teachers will be responsible for preparing food and general maintenance of the kitchen, the Director (Maria Victoria Giménez de Meza) will be responsible for the overall upkeep and continuation of providing breakfast for the school children. Maria Victoria and a group of teachers currently get together to cook the food and would continue to organize the schedule for cooking breakfast at the school.

9.     What specific signs will indicate that this project has been successful? If you were to return in 1-2 years, what signs would you look for to show that this project has been successful in the long-term?

The daily use of this kitchen would indicate this project’s success.  In 1-2 years, the project’s success could be gauged by how often the kitchen is in use and how well it is maintained.  This project can be considered successful in the future if breakfast and snacks are still being served in a clean environment. Additionally, one could also look at ways community health has improved overall and search for ways the school has used their new kitchen to host workshops on healthy eating, to cook healthier foods, to launch community gardens etc…

10.  Approximately how many and who are the intended beneficiaries?

The most direct beneficiaries are the 68 primary school students who will be given breakfast and a snack daily.  The school kitchen would also decreases the economic burden on the parents when it comes to providing food.

11.  How will sustainability of this project be assured?

The community members, especially the teachers and Asocación de Cooperación Escolar, will maintain the kitchen and make sure it is being used frequently and properly.

12.  How will success be measured for this project?

Success can be measured by the overall increased efficiency of providing food to the children.  This can be realized by minimizing the amount of time needed to prepare food and the increased quantity and quality of food.  Although it would be difficult to measure, the kitchen will also increase energy level and attention span of students after receiving breakfast.

Support This Project:

Make an online donation here, and please specify Paraguari Bevil Grant in the comments section. Any funds raised above the $1056.49 will go to funding other Bevil Grants unless otherwise specified. Thank you!