Malnutrition Vs Education Project

This is the name of the project that will be starting up in the pueblo joven of La Mansion in the next few weeks. The general idea is to provide well balanced, nutritional meals for children in the area who are suffering from malnourishment and other ailments. Food will be prepared by parental volunteers with the help of two nutritionists, Daisy and Pamela.

I'm still a little unclear on the status of the project, it seems that a lot of work had been done previously in investigating the extent of the problem and I have translated reports relating to the level of chronic malnutrition and number of parasites present in the primary aged population. I think previously the project had been running in the school but the arrival of a new director changed that. Apparently the Director and some of the parents and teachers had problems with the project and, if I understand correctly, didn’t feel that it was the school concern to provide meals for the students. I sense I'm not getting the whole story here but it's a little difficult to get specifics given the level of my Spanish ability.

Yesterday we had a meeting with interested parents and teachers in a venue that we've found to provide the meals. Around about 30 parents, all women bar two men and with small children in tow attended. I was able to follow most of the agenda given that I'd already translated some documents on the topic, and it seemed to get a good response. (The report can be found here http://www.ciescu.org/ProjectMalnutritionPovertyVsEducation.htm, although you will need to click the "available in English tab to read it) The whole thing was very organised and involved the election of representative from different areas and the selection of a committee including the a president, vice president and treasurer.

It's good that I'm beginning to get a handle on the projects as up to now I was wondering what was going on. I think CIESCU has many plans for projects but not always the funding. The funding for this particular project comes from two German organisations, Claim for Dignity and another one whose name I can't find right now (the web site is still labyrinthine, even for me). I'll have to try and find some other bodies that might be willing to support projects. I know DfID will be worth contacting but if anyone has any idea who else is worth approaching please let me know.