Eating at Fundacion

June 26, 2017

One of the principles of Fundacion Minadores de Sueños is to provide children with a balanced diet. This is directly possible on five weekdays, on weekends it is the responsibility of the parents, the mother, the grandparents. They are educated about healthy nutrition and asked to provide it to their children. Today Marco told me that he has noticed several times that children who come to them and then benefit from the food, have literally shot up. Nutrition is extremely important. We know that in our enlightened society.

In Ecuador, children either have school in the morning or in the afternoon. The other half of the day they spend at home - usually. The foundation now takes in the children for the half day they don't have school and gives them a morning snack and lunch at half past eleven. The lunch break lasts until half past two, because during this time the children arrive who had school in the morning. Since they come from different schools, some of them from further away, there is no fixed time for this group. Otherwise, the half-day schedule is clearly regulated. This helps children to find their way around. It's like that all over the world. So, for the children who spent the morning at school and the afternoon at the foundation, they have a snack at quarter past five. After every meal, lunch or snack, they brush their teeth together. This is also part of the routine. Hands are washed before meals. The working time at the foundation is one and a half hours. During this time, homework is solved or, if finished, the child works on additional tasks that are given to them and collected in the additional folder. These are designed in such a way that the children can solve them on their own, for example with the help of a dictionary or by looking up in the math book how to solve the tasks, etc. Then there is a half-hour break with outdoor play in good weather and indoor play when it rains. Normally, the children can choose their activities and/or companions during this time. I have already indicated several times that there are many overwhelmed children. There are also those who are so distracted or tired that they do nothing. Or they fold paper boats for an hour and a half. Or scribble on sheets of paper. But that's not my topic today.

For some children, the morning snack is probably their breakfast of the day. It may also be that lunch at the foundation is the only proper meal of the day for them. Some of them make good use of it. As for the morning snack, which is the responsibility of the volunteers to prepare, I now know the following variations:
1. Sliced ​​banana poured with yogurt
2. Orange
3. Boiled egg with salt
4. Hot milk and banana on top
5. Yogurt with cornflakes in it
6. Roll with ham

I believe that's it. Normally, there is jelly on Wednesdays, but in the last three weeks before the holidays, and those are exactly my weeks, we didn't have that anymore.

After the morning snack, the children show the empty cup and if it is not completely empty, they are expected to finish it. No questions asked, and no one complains that they don't like it and would prefer something else and... They are not so spoiled here and the reason "it's healthy" is enough to eat the snack completely. Period! None of the children have a problem with that either. There is also a special tea if you don't feel well with your stomach, for example.
I have also benefited from that before.

Lunch is the responsibility of the two professionals in the kitchen: Elena and Viviana. They are kind of the soul of the basement, which is the kitchen and dining area. And the two of them do a really good job. I'm not sure who creates the menu plan, maybe it's done together with Alba. But the food is really balanced. First, a soup (the best one we had was a pumpkin soup, but also the other ones like locra de papa, or tomato soup, or chicken broth, all very good).
Then a plate with usually rice, meat (not always) with sauce or something else delicious made with vegetables and definitely salad. And those who like can and may have more. The food is very good. I really enjoy it. That's why the lunch is a highlight for me, along with the coffee afterwards. Made in a larger espresso machine, the Italian aluminum cans in three parts. They are simply ingenious and here in the country of non-coffee drinkers and the best coffee in the world, they are a blessing. (I imagine exporting this coffee to Italy and getting it prepared there - that would be fantastic!)

This blog entry is dedicated entirely to the two cooks. They do an excellent job and if the opportunity arises, I also do something for them.
For example, washing the lunch soup dishes today. I don't have much to do at lunchtime anyway and the time from half past eleven to half past two is verrrrry long.