What did you have for breakfast today?

What did you have for breakfast today? That’s what I asked fellow Conference on Honduras attendees when I gave a presentation of the recently launched: Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program. The Conference was the 12th annual, held in Copan Ruinas, mainland Honduras. More than two hundred people attended the three day event, representing various organizations, or like myself, as an individual with an interest in participating in offering assistance to help the people of Honduras, help themselves.

I went on to ask, “Perhaps you had a croissant and glass of orange juice, a bowl of cereal, maybe you prefer something hardier to start your day, and go with the classic bacon and eggs.”

I then asked everyone, “How do you feel if you skip breakfast? You know those mornings when you’re running late, overslept the alarm, or looked in the fridge, the cupboard, glanced at the empty fruit basket on the counter… and realize you should have picked up a few groceries on your way home from work the day before…

So you head out, ignoring the grumbling in your stomach… you’ve got a lot on your agenda for the day… but somehow it just isn’t clicking… tasks that usually are second nature to you are daunting. Digesting what your Boss is saying isn’t happening… because your stomach is sending messages to your brain–give me some food to digest first, then you can listen to what your Boss is saying!”

We are all adults, have resources available to us, so we can choose to have breakfast (and be effectively productive) or we can choose to skip breakfast (and be less productive.)

But, what about children? Especially the children whose families don’t have the resources or funds to ensure their children have breakfast, before sending them off to school. Unfortunately, on Roatan there are a high percentage of children that is a daily reality!

Efforts are in place to ensure these children are benefiting from an education, but if they’re hungry how well are they able to digest what the teacher is instructing them on?

Numerous studies have shown that, “Missing breakfast and experiencing hunger impair children’s ability to learn.”
• Children who skip breakfast are less able to distinguish among similar images, show increased errors, and have slower memory recall.
• Children experiencing hunger have lower math scores.
• Behavioural, emotional and academic problems are more prevalent among children with hunger.

On the flip side: “Eating breakfast at school helps children perform better.”
• Children who eat breakfast at school–make fewer mistakes and work faster in math and number checking tests.
• Children perform better on tests of vocabulary and matching figures, after eating breakfast.
• Consuming breakfast improves children’s performance on demanding mental tasks and how they react to frustration.

The Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program, Roatan
I stopped by the Luisa Trundle School in Coxen Hole one day (a few months back) so that Val of Familias Saludables could give me the tour. I was very impressed with what I saw; well designed classrooms, a large courtyard, a play-ground with jungle gym equipment, and a sports-field–that the grass is now growing on thanks to the arrival of rainy season. I also noticed (what I would call in Canada) a Tuck shop, (known as a Comedor or perhaps Cantina here.) A few children were gathering around, purchasing snacks: junk food and soda pop.

I asked Val if nutritious foods were offered too, she let me know that the service was separate from the school, and although she had requested they did, the owners were supplying what the children were willing to pay for. She went on to say that it didn’t matter much since the majority of children attending the school couldn’t afford to purchase anything! And while some of the kids brought food with them to school, or ate breakfast before they came; quite a few of them had little, or NOTHING to eat most days.

You know how unexpected information stays with you–it swirls around in your head, day and night–until you act on it. All I could see in my mind’s eye was these amazing kids–wanting to learn–but some of them were coming to school–hungry! The scene had been set for them to have a future through an education–but hunger was denying them full benefit…

So I called Val, and asked if we could start a breakfast program at the school?

She immediately set to work; assessing costs, logistics, and ramifications–we had to revise the menu a few times; to stay within budget, and because it was (rightly) suggested that jumping right in to a full-fledge breakfast program could be overwhelming and confusing to the children and their parents.

How it works: Within a couple of weeks we were ready to go!

When the children arrive at school (between 6:30 and 7 AM) they are greeted (just inside the entrance to the courtyard) by grade 7 students manning the table; pouring glasses of milk, slicing the fruit of the day, spreading peanut-butter on toast or setting out healthy cookies or perhaps hardboiled eggs.

At first the children hesitated to take anything; fearing they would get in trouble when the time came to pay and they had no money. It took a fair bit of convincing that they didn’t have to pay–ever! The children are amazingly well disciplined in line–no pushing or shoving–some of them still are hesitant to take anything and have to be encouraged. The children who used to arrive just on time (or late) for class–are now coming in earlier too ensure they don’t miss out on breakfast.

There has been no need to control amounts–it seems to balance out that kids who are fed at home; either don’t take anything or take a small portion–while, kids who don’t get fed at home come back several times–it has also been noticed that occasionally a child will take something extra and hide it away for their lunch. That is totally okay and discreetly accepted.

To prepare for my presentation at the Conference on Honduras, I did some research to confirm the validity of operating a School Breakfast Program… Kind of like closing the barn door after the horse ran away. I was able to find many studies confirming that eating a nutritious breakfast improves the ability to learn.

I’m pleased to say, I did also find that many programs exist around the world–including developed countries. Unfortunately, I also found that although it is a known fact that children learn better with a full tummy–taking the initiative to set up programs is somewhat ignored, because the thinking is that it will be too costly to provide, and too difficult to organize and manage.

I’m proud to let you know they are wrong!

A need was realized and acted upon. Now, it helps tremendously to work with like minded people such as Val, and the staff, students and parents at Luisa Trundle School. Perhaps if a “proper study” had been done before launching the Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program, it wouldn’t have happened. I will admit as the sole sponsor, my only concern with proceeding was, “what if the funds run out before other contributors come on board?” I didn’t want to offer something that I would then have to renege on.

Fortunately, I ignored that little voice of doubt.

When potential food and milk suppliers were approached, their response couldn’t have been more positive: discounts on already well priced produce, half price milk, and dozens of eggs for less than a dollar a dozen–to name just a few. Keeping the menu flexible helps a lot as well, when ripe fruit and other foodstuffs such as day-old bread are donated. We all know that the best French-toast is made with stale bread.

And now you can participate too!

The funding and supplies are in place to complete this school year’s Breakfast Program; school ends mid-November in Honduras. The next school year starts in February, 2012. And while I will do everything possible to ensure the Breakfast program is ready to go the first day of class, your assistance could make the difference of it continuing.

Under the umbrella of the Dawn Land Foundation, tax deductable cash donations to the Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program can be made by clicking here. Just specify in an email to info(@)thedawnlandfoundation.com the intended use of the funds: The Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program.

While the Dawn Land Foundation has been in existence since 1990 and offers support to other worthy efforts, the Roatan Vortex Program is currently in process of being added to the website so will not appear yet as a separate tab–coming soon! That said, I personally guarantee that 100% of all monies received by Dawn land Foundation (on behalf of the Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program) will be transferred to Roatan for the purchasing of breakfast foods for the children that attend the Luisa Trundle School, Coxen Hole.

Absolutely none of the donations will be used for salaries, administrative purposes, or anything other than feeding the children Breakfast!

A wish list of food stuffs for visitors to bring with them when they come to Roatan for holiday will also be posted and updated regularly. Contact me here to arrange for pick up or where to drop off what you’re donating when you arrive on Roatan.

Number one on the list right now is Kraft peanut butter (very expensive to purchase on Roatan, and the kids love it best) and how easy would it be to bring a jar; in your checked luggage of course, or it will be confiscated at the airport–like my toothpaste is every time I travel!

Other items on the wish list include:

Ingredients suitable for making healthy cookies
• rolled oats
• wheat germ
• unbleached flours
• dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots etc.)
• nuts, seeds, grains
- Granola bars (healthy & tasty ones please)
- Prepared cereals (healthy & tasty ones please)

Non-food stuffs we’re looking for:
- A juicer, to make real orange juice–not that sugary stuff pretending to be juice
- Reusable plastic cups and bowls
- Tea towels
- Mini snack-baggies
- Healthy, fun breakfast food recipes

The Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program, at the Luisa Trundle School, is the first one of its kind on Roatan–who knows–perhaps we can start a new trend!

***

Val joined me on the Roatan Vortex Hour on 101.1 FM Roatan Radio.com to share her perspective of what is going on with the Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program on a daily bases, Saturday Oct 22, listen here to what she had to say.

 

 The Roatan Vortex Breakfast Program: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download