Teaching Lessons

One of the preplanned activities for my time in Guatemala was the teaching of nutrition lessons. Brenda and I both had an interest in sharing our understanding of how a good diet can help you be healthier but we needed some help in pulling some pieces together so it would have some logic for the kids we were going to be working with. I was really pleased to have a friend of mine with many years of experience in elementary school classrooms in Canada and in Europe spend some time with us and help as connect the dots among good nutrition, a healthy body and a healthy mind hence more success at school.

So harmed with that theme we collected information, developed some key messages, found useful handouts in Spanish and connected with graphic design students at North Island College (www.nic.bc.ca) who designed some posters for us to share with the kids we worked with.

We taught lessons to about 350 kids in grades 1 - 6 in two schools and in an after school program. I thought I had a pretty good handle on working in elementary school environments and I found there was lots to learn too!

* spend two weeks with over 300 kids and you are bound to get sick. I had a cold that lasted the better part
of a month
* teaching in a second language is very difficult, even if the kids are attentive and interested
* kids regardless of culture like lots of activity and that activity helps them learn. Our seed and rice
experiments were big hits.
* kids in this part of Guatemala do not eat raw vegetables. The look on their faces when we gave the raw
carrots was priceless. Their first reaction was to smell it, some refused to even try a bit, some spit it out
and few really liked the taste. (Reminded me of my first introduction to sushi in 1973 in Japan)
* teachers have a variety of reactions to foreigners arriving in their classrooms. Some joined right in
helping translate when the kids did not understand us. Others disappeared and stayed invisible while we
taught and some just watched. I have had some concerns that while our support in general is welcome
our presence was not in the best interest of the school curriculum. Looking forward to reading the
evaluations for more insight
* teach a lesson enough times and it begins to flow. Brenda and I taught a two hour workshop for a group
of kids last Sunday that pulled together the concepts of personal hygiene, exercise and nutrition and it
connected with the kids in ways we had not seen before.
* and lastly the messages are really important in this cultural environment where Coca Cola only arrived
at the Lake about five years ago, where vegetables and fruits are not part of the prefered diet and where
there is little money for extra curricular activity.

Happy Easter. I am off to see the creation of the frombas. More later
Colina