Project: Development of nutrition education programs at public schools and empowerment of women groups

in marginalized communities in rural Belize

Project Status: Finished in December 2019

Project Overview

The project improved the health and well-being of 700 students, 28 teachers and 6 parents from 3 public primary schools as well as 28 women and their families (103 people) in 3 communities in southern Belize:

Stann Creek District - Red Bank and Cowpen
Toledo District - Indian Creek

The project reached 865 direct and 60,081 indirect beneficiaries.

Highlights and Updates

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Objectives

Improve nutrition and food security education programs at targeted primary schools.

Increase awareness and knowledge of nutrition, food security and related issues for teacher, parent, student and women groups.

Increase access and capacity to establish and maintain food security and income generation infrastructure for women groups.

Key activities and deliverables

To promote healthier lifestyle habits among students the project worked with a summer club and one student club in each school. Clubs participated in:

Lessons centered on nutrition, food security and hygiene.
Coordinated sports sessions.
Practical actions to build and manage greenhouses.

To increase teachers' capacity to impart health and nutrition topics to their students 28 teachers and 6 parents expanded their understanding of nutrition with workshops provided by the Ministry of Health. 15 of participating teachers, further increased their experience teaching health and nutrition topics to their students by actively leading the lessons, sports sessions and other activities of the project.

To strengthen health and financial stability of women and relatives living in their household the project worked with one women group in each community. Groups participated in lessons - centered on nutrition, food security and hygiene - while learning to build and manage greenhouses and nurseries for trees and flowers.

To raise awareness about the importance of nutrition, food security and the project progress, community events were implemented at each participating village and communication products were presented to the general public (via radio and social media). Events included:

3 guided visits to greenhouses and nurseries built.
3 cleaning actions in the communities.
3 sport days at participating schools.

Synergies

During project implementation, HPPBZ collaborated with:

Representatives from Village and Alcalde Councils
Extension officers from the Ministry of Health
Personnel from public schools from the Ministry of Education and from the Catholic Church

Time Frame

Start: April 2019

End: December 2019

Duration: 9 months

This project was co-funded by

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