After several years of guiding families and adventurous individuals through Guatemala on our service vacations, many asked how they can continue to serve the people of Guatemala until their next service vacation. Those overwhelming inquiries are what inspired us to launch our Nutrition Sponsorship Program.
Because of the generosity of our sponsors, we provide hundreds of meals to the communities we serve each month, and we are growing fast!
Not All Nutrition Needs In Developing Countries Are Alike
Though Guatemala provides nearly 80% of the produce consumed by Central America, those in the Guatemalan agricultural industry are often unable to grow food for their own families. As a result, Guatemala is the 4th most malnourished nation in the world. A typical meal for an individual living in the Guatemalan highlands is a corn tortilla with a little bit of salt.
Such a diet void of vital nutrients passed on from parent to child over time has lead to generational stunting. Analyzing growth charts of the children we serve, many come to us in the third percentile for their age. This means 97% of the children in the world of the same age are taller and weigh more.
A Program Changing Lifelong Growth & Nutrition For Generations
We are excited to announce that within just the first few months of launching our Nutritional Sponsorship Program, the children we serve have had significant jumps in their growth charts. On average, they have risen from the third percentile to fifteenth, and continue to improve drastically!