Glimpse - Your Stories from Abroad

Every morning, the preschool children line up, smallest to tallest, and review life's most important lessons:

Should you come to school clean or dirty?

“¡Limpia!” the children answer in chorus. (“Clean!”)

“¿Y tu pelo?” the teacher asks, pointing to her hair.

“¡Limpia!”

“¿Y tu ropa?” She indicates her clothing.

“¡Limpia!”

She nods approval, then demands to see la mano derecha.

The four and five-year-olds obediently stick out their right hands, and the three-year-olds follow their lead.

“¡La mano izquierda!”

Left hands go out with a little less confidence.

“¿Y el pie derecho?”

This question is answered with contagious giggles and much hopping around on one foot. Sandals decorated with Disney characters and wiggling toes pop up in all directions.

Then comes the culmination of my summer’s work: With a smile and wink in my direction, la maestra shouts, “What food should you eat more of?”

“¡Pollo!” yells the girl who always answers first (and usually incorrectly).

“¡Plátanos!” tries another.

I was going for fruits and vegetables, but chicken and plantains were a decent start. “Mangos, queso, orange juice,” the teacher prompts. “What else?”

“¡Glu-glu!” one child adds, getting excited. She’s referring to the bags of milky liquid sugar that a woman from the local pulpería sells to the schoolchildren every morning from atop her bicycle. I sigh.

At the beginning of my time here in Nicaragua, I had many ideas about how to give back to the country through my work here. My first idea was to clean up the streets by installing public trashcans throughout the town. As it turns out, a similar campaign was started in the past, and every single trashcan was stolen within a day. It was carefully explained to me that “a barrel is something to be envied here.” Gathering my resolve, I eventually settled on improving the children's nutrition.

My number one problem in trying to teach nutrition has been the abundance of junk food here in Nicaragua. If it’s not glu-glu for breakfast, it’s cookies or Dorito knock-offs.

So I added my question, “What food should you eat more of?” to the morning ritual and wrote them a song about nutrition called “Cada día, Comeré” (Every day, I will eat), which is set to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” The lyrics explain what types of local foods one should eat every day to live a healthy life. I made paper hats for each child to represent different healthy foods, and while we sing the song each morning, I organize them into balanced meals.

I also tried to stress the importance of a healthy breakfast during a charla, or talk, with their parents. To prepare for the charla, I made a handout and spent an hour chopping up mangos and carrots for snacks. Unfortunately, no one came because my mentor had failed to inform the parents.

Seeing me standing there, ready with flyers and snacks in hand, my mentor brought over the afternoon sewing class instead, and I delivered my charla to a group of women who were probably wondering, “Why aren't we sewing?” But the food went over well, even if they seemed suspicious of the carrot sticks.

I also spoke with the glu-glu vendor, asking her politely if she could possibly sell the children frozen bananas in the mornings instead of ice cream, since bananas are equally cheap (and sweet) but much healthier. She listened and nodded, although I doubt she ever plans to follow my suggestion. Many of the Nicaraguans I talk to have a habit of telling me whatever I want to hear, not intending to lie, but simply trying to please me. It's a cultural thing. Nonetheless, I walked away from the conversation feeling satisfied.

On my last day in Chaguitillo, Nicaragua, we sing the song. Señor Pan, Don Huevos, and La Reina de Piña proudly wear their bread, egg, and pineapple hats, while three other girls fight over Ensalada. And then… we feast on a piñata filled with caramelos and bon-bons. Oh well.

The twins may have come to school eating triple-headed lollipops, and the preschool cook's daughter may have been sucking on a bag of glu-glu, but on my last day, when asked what food you should eat more of, the girl who always screams, “¡Pollo!” at the top of her lungs, yelled, “¡Mangos!” instead. For that alone, I consider my summer a success.