I'd like to tell you a bit about a project I'm working on with a rural community just north of Loja, where we’d like to build a school kitchen and cafeteria. The kids in this community are really reliant on school meals to satisfy more than half of their nutritional needs, since their parents must leave early in the morning to work in agricultural and construction-related jobs. The school’s current facility is a mere closet, with antiquated equipment and severe sanitation issues, making cooking very difficult and unsanitary. The children often receive an insufficient quantity of food, and many of the children are suffering from stunted growth and illness due to food contamination and nutrient deficiencies. Parents and teachers want to help eliminate these nutrition and health problems and are extremely motivated to build a new kitchen and cafeteria where nutritious meals can be prepared and served to their children. The facility will also serve as an educational center for hands-on classes to empower teachers, students and parents with new cooking, nutrition, and food safety information that can be integrated into school curriculums and home life.
Two other volunteers and I built the community a potable water system a year and half ago and this kitchen/cafeteria is the next step in trying to eliminate nutrient deficiencies and other health problems in the community. If any of you would like to make a donation, the community would be very appreciative! And if you could send this link to family and friends and/or post it on your Facebook wall that would be awesome as well!
Thanks so much!
Jason
Katie, Andy and I with some of the kids in the community
At the inauguration of the water system
The community is located high above the city of Loja. This is a typical home in the community.
The building site for the kitchen/cafeteria. The schoolhouse is the white building to the left and the current kitchen take up half of the wooden shack shown. The other half is for storage.
Typical adobe block house in the community
Community kids
Part of the completed water system
Kids at the inauguration of the water system
Kids, parents and teachers at the inauguration of the water system
Agua Pura + Manos Limpias = Cuerpos Sanos! (Pure Water + Clean Hands = Healthy Bodies!)
More community members at the inauguration
