Early Childhood Literacy & Nutrition in Guatemala

It is crucial that the all library staff have the skills and knowledge necessary to serve the young adult population with respect and first-rate services. When all public libraries are fully staffed only with those that value young adults, not only does the library thrive, but the community, of which adolescents are a part, thrives as well.

It is important when promoting positive adolescent development for teens that the age-group be treated equitably — and teens know when there is a service double standard in place. As a result, teens sometimes choose to exhibit undesirable behaviors or choose to no longer use the institution that they perceive as treating them inappropriately. The ramifications on the library can be long term as support from future taxpayers is potentially lost. Teens may also fight back with displays of inappropriate behavior while in the library and these can extend into the local community.

Adolescence is a confusing time for many teens and as a result it is also turbulent for those around them. Young adults are grown but not fully grown. Teenagers can act like adults one minute and like children the next. It’s sometimes hard to know what to expect, which is one of the reasons why many adults are wary around the age group. 

Technology, adult services, children’s services, and teen services staff also play a part in educating parents, teachers, and others about the role technology plays in the lives of teens. Many adults that live and work with teens do not have a firm understanding of the why and how of teen technology use, particularly use related to social media and interactive technologies (often referred to as Web 2.0). Education by librarians on this topic helps adults better understand young adult interests and behaviors within the social media arena. 

Similarly, parents are not always secure in their understanding of the changes that take place as their children move from childhood to adulthood. Parents may feel comfortable with children’s staff after years of bringing their children to programs at the library and these staff can help a parent with learning how to live with a teen. Adult staff may have a rapport with parents with whom they discuss fiction and nonfiction materials checked out of the library. Due to this rapport, these staff members may prove to be the best qualified to help parents find resources that help them to understand the changes a teenage son or daughter is experiencing. 

Among the many U.S. government goals for the region is to build and support youth development and advocacy skills. Youth programming is a core component of Riecken’s library Its “Mentes brillantes”(Brilliant Minds) is a reading and activity program encourages youth to know their rights and to get involved. The program’s three components -- myself, my group, and my community -- create youth leaders who get involved in resolving community development issues. Youth participants of this program have gone on to take positions within the municipal governments, and one was even elected mayor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJLXFAGriI

With support from USAID/ASHA (American Schools and Hospitals Abroad) to upgrade technology and furniture, Riecken community libraries will continue to help transform a single building block -- a community library with free computers, internet, print resources and programs -- into a springboard for democracy building, local leadership development, women’s empowerment, civic engagement and social justice in Honduras. Riecken community Libraries are a demonstration and promotion American principles of inclusiveness and equality, civic engagement, free expression and independent inquiry. Together with the USAID / ASHA program, we will give a concrete response to promote community cohesion, so damaged by the current situation. We are proud to see the flexibility of the Riecken Community Library sustainability model in action, allowing for relevant local response to this worldwide calamity.  

Access to information, Lifelong learning for all and the fight against illiteracy are very important, and the United Nations’ 2030 goals with regard to education therefore also form the basis for this award. That is one of the goals on the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, working towards more sustainable development in the future. Illiteracy is a global problem that must be addressed. 

Our Reading program’s target group is parents with limited knowledge of early childhood development (ECD)/nutrition best practices, who want to address their communities’ high malnutrition rates and unhealthy eating habits, passed along though generations.

In 2011 one Riecken library piloted an ECD Nutrition+Reading program to help parents develop better infant/child nutrition and ECD practices and promote a joy of reading. That program has now expanded to Riecken’s entire 65-library network. 

Riecken Libraries’ mission is to promote democracy and prosperity in Central American communities by awakening a spirit of discovery and social participation. The rural communities served by Riecken’s 65 Guatemalan and Honduran libraries have high infant and child malnutrition rates, largely due to parents’ limited nutrition knowledge from many factors, including inadequate formal education, extreme poverty, and unhealthy eating traditions. Library staff recognized that they had access to these parents, as they would often drop their children off at the library (a safe, trusted place) prior to going to sell goods daily at the market. Library staff developed a weekly program to teach parents the importance of reading and interacting with their infants and toddlers as a critical part of healthy child development. Parents are engaged by making a short group presentation about how they have been working at home with the children, and what they are learning about feeding and reading to them.    

“I participated in the reading program with a focus on nutrition this past year and I learned a lot about nutritional issues. I have had much to share with other mothers and for my own daughter. I loved the sessions that teach children to recognize letters and colors. Another subject I liked was on how to make soy sausage. What I learn here, I will implement at home because I know it’s beneficial for my family.”  Young mother.

“As a licensed nurse, health and malnutrition topics are of interest of me. I learned reading techniques and how to use reading to work with children and families. I can complement reading with my community health knowledge and experience to improve health services for my patients.” Honduran nurse. 

Adult literacy rates are 87% (Honduras) and 81% (Guatemala), although these rates are significantly lower in Riecken library rural communities.  In 2019, this program reached 8,413 people, the overwhelming majority with low literacy levels.

With InterAmerican Development Bank support, volunteer reading and health promotors were able to maintain nearly 9,000 annual participants in the program. Over 7,000 individuals from other sectors participated in different program aspects including health, education, local government, and community leaders. Where possible and when located near a health center, Riecken’s libraries were able to support weight & height monitoring with health center staff, reaching over 350 mothers and 400 children.

Riecken’s Nutrition+Reading programs work to reduce infant and child malnutrition as well as promote to parents the importance of reading and interacting with their infants and toddlers as a critical part of healthy child development. The curriculum helps libraries to develop weekly programs that teach mothers techniques for reading at home to their children and makes a link to nutrition by providing the mothers access to nutrition-themed books to read to their children. Even the many illiterate mothers can learn alongside their children to recognize vowels, consonants, and pronounce sounds, and library staff show these mothers how to “read” the pictures in the book by talking to the children about what is happening in each illustration.

Reading for pleasure or personal growth is not widely respected in rural Central America, where income is earned primarily from physical labor. This program links the real challenge of regional infant/child malnutrition, with a pragmatic solution integrating reading with improving children’s health. This program not only destigmatizes reading, but also teaches children from an early age about the joy of reading through story hours and book clubs that cater to different age groups as they grow.

Links:

• Visit our website