Andrea Schütte

My typical day as a nutrition volunteer started with a bus ride to one of the ten communities in the Palajunoj valley. I would either meet Mónica at the bus terminal or Scarlet at the clinic and then we would go together. Every week was under a different subject meaning we performed the same workshop every day in a different community for one week. The next week we started a different topic and every community has its fixed day a week.  This was very useful for me as a volunteer since I could get used to how things are going on Monday and then get more involved during the week.  Usually on Fridays we were in the clinic working with the community close to the clinic and preparing everything for the following week. Once a month we weight and measured the children. We held “charlas” (workshops) about important topics such as (mal)nutrition, hygiene, vaccination, healthy food, diseases etc.  I particularly enjoyed my very last week when we constructed vegetable gardens in the mothers homes to integrate more consumption of vegetables into their diet. This was a great way to get in contact with them individually and though it was very hard to do farming on those terrains with basic equipment, it was also a lot of fun. My highlight of volunteering for sure was, working together with the two nutritionists, Mónica and Scarlet, who are really incredible in the work they do. I could learn so much from them about the communities and Guatemala and most importantly they are wonderful personalities and we spent a great time together. Also working with the mothers of the communities was an unforgettable experience which I enjoyed a lot and can highly recommend to anyone who is open-minded and eager to get involved in health education in rural Guatemala.