Placida Segovia Martínez lives in Monte Sud, Bolivia. She is a happy mother of three, an entrepreneurial fighter and always seeks to move her family forward despite the problems that arise. Every day look different for Placida. As a single mother, providing for her family includes embroidering blouses, washing clothes, cleaning houses, and taking care of animals to name a few.
She takes advantage of daily opportunities that allow her to buy food and clothes for her family. However, working as hard as she did, the local doctor said that one of her sons was still drastically underweight.
So what more could she do?
Luckily, Placida is an enterprising woman and takes advantage of all workshops in her area to learn more and share with other mothers. So, when Esperança came to her village to provide classes on nutrition, she was one of the first to sign up. Community Health Educators teach such topics as healthy food options for children who are underweight. In one of her favorite sessions, the group learned how to make lentil burgers with vegetables.
“I am happy and excited to participate in Esperança’s workshops. I am happy because the doctor told me that my son is now in a healthy weight range thanks to the fact that I cook more nutritious and healthy meals.”
It is not surprising that Placida soon became one of the leaders of the project, locally called “guide mothers”.
The methodology of the workshops “is learning by doing”, this allows each mother to prepare a healthy meal, explain how she cooked it and then share it with all attendees. Everyone can taste the foods and learn different recipes to take home.
“Esperança’s workshops changed our diet and feeding routine, and the result is that now my son has a normal weight. He was thin before and now he is better… a good diet is equal to healthy children!”