Escuelas saludables

There are two main projects in Peace Corps Guatemala: Healthy Schools and Maternal and Child Health. I am in Healthy Schools (escuelas saludables) which means that I will eventually be placed in my permanent two year community, where I will work with around ten schools to improve the overall health of the children within said schools. Theoretically this is a really awesome thing, I get to teach teachers how to teach their kids about health, I get to help empower someone with knowledge, is there anything better in life?!

Maybe, yes. I am a 24 year old woman, walking into the class of a real life adult, and get to try to tell them how to do an aspect of their job. The job that they have been doing, presumably longer than I have been in college. Great. There is also this need of finessing indirect communication, which I am *really* bad at, and even worse at in Spanish. Potential struggles.

We have officially visited our first school twice now, which is pretty exciting! I am currently in a class of second graders, which is right up my alley. There are thirty kids in my class, one teacher and no aides; she is basically a saint. Unfortunately since there is only one of her, she can't really keep an eye on all the kids at once, as is always a problem. This problem, however, is exacerbated by the fact that they don't currently have a director there full time, so the teachers take turns being the principal. woah. 

Here is Guate school only lasts from 7:30-12:00, which is a super short day, and means that a lot of what needs to be accomplished doesn't get done, there simply is no time. Being the abrupt, privileged person that I am, I asked the teacher why don't they just lengthen the day (duh). Seño (nickname for a female teacher) is quick to inform me that the school day was longer, but that if class goes longer than 12 then the government is required to provide at least a snack for the children. The government unfortunately is sort of in the midst of a financial crisis which means there is no funding. Insanity.

In addition to there not being enough money for food, there is also no money for books, improvements to schools, bathrooms, or pilas.

This is a pila...a very nice pila

Pilas are used predominantly for washing dishes, clothes and hands. The left side has ridges in it and is used for cleaning clothes, brushing your teeth, and washing your hands. The right side is used for "trastos" dishes.  The middle section is full of water and has a bowl in it that is used to dip into the water and rinse objects with. Pila etiquette is a huge deal in Guatemala.  

This means that there are four stalls for all 200+ kids in the school, AND, in my opinion the bigger problem, there is only one pila. This is insanity. That it like having one sink for 250 kids. 

I wish there was a way to explain the sheer insanity of this problem. Everyone uses this pila to wash their hands before and after snack, and hopefully, after using the bathroom. Unfortunately, kids were also drinking the water. The water from the middle section, where the kids were rinsing the bathroom, thus the children were effectively drinking the water that other kids had just used to wash their post bathroom dirty hands. One of our biggest issues with children here is with absence in school because of illness, predominantly GI tract problems. After visiting the school it has become very apparent of why these problems exist. 

Despite all the sickness, and how little these kiddos have, when I visited their classroom every student shared their snack with me, whether is was pan y frijoles or mantequilla cookies. The amount of generosity here is palpable, and such a remarkable thing to witness and be apart of. If I have learned nothing else thus far, it is that I have so much to learn from Guatemalans about humanity and recognizing it in others. I am so very blessed

tooth brushing at the school pila