Banco de Alimentos en Mérida, A.C.

When I decided to apply to UBELONG for another service trip, I had so many options to choose from in terms of projects and countries: forest conservation (me chopping down tough plant stalks? Not so much haha), teaching English again, caretaking, kindergarten teaching, public health, NGO support, etc. Initially, I was drawn to volunteering in a public health project in Accra, Ghana, but my mother was reluctant to send me halfway around the world, so I chose Mérida volunteering in NGO support at a local food bank.

People who know me are aware that I will be pursuing my Master’s degree in Public Health this upcoming fall, so ideally, it would have been amazing to work on a public health project! Unfortunately, at the present moment UBELONG only accepts groups for the public health service project in Mexico, so I chose the next best thing, working in NGO support, since I’ve been an avid supporter of volunteering and nonprofit organizations. Plus, a food bank is closely tied with public health in terms of healthy lifestyles and nutrition for families!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, since I was told I had to bring a laptop to my project. I predicted that I would be working on administrative things, such as filing and typing things up, but I learned there was so much more that I could participate in. The food bank has five main departments:

1. Collection
2. Warehouse
3. Nutrition
4. Beneficiaries
5.  Administration

My main task (since I’m a native English speaker) at the moment was to translate documents with each of the department’s descriptions as well as other miscellaneous topics (i.e. drivers and communities), which has helped me understand the many aspects that make up a food bank. In NY, I volunteered at a food pantry but this food bank is beyond any of my previous expectations.  So far I’ve worked in the warehouse sorting fruit and packing bread for the families, and met with some of the potential new beneficiaries (or recipients of nutritional packages) by visiting local communities such as Xcunya and Chablekal.

On Thursday, I followed opening department’s staff back to Xcunya to observe the staffs’ roles in the community. Applicants filled out surveys regarding their household, socioeconomic status, and physical characteristics to be determined by the food bank if they were eligible to enroll in the program to receive nutritional packages. The nutritional package program is an affordable “care package” of groceries carefully selected by the nutritionists for each respective community. The goal is to see improvements in people’s weight and health over time, and encourage a healthier lifestyle. Each nutritional package costs either 42 pesos for a weekly package (products make up at least 20% of the daily nutritional value), or 65 pesos for a bi-weekly package (products make up at least 25% of the daily nutritional value). I even had the opportunity to help out by weighing and taking the heights of the community members!

 

Back at the office, I’ve met such wonderful staff who teach me so many things, varying from everything regarding the food bank’s operations, to the Mayan language! When I was in Ecuador, every time I learned a new Spanish word I quickly jotted it down in my notebook to review later on, and I decided to continue this when I arrived in Mérida. I never expected to start learning the Mayan language as well, but I made a new space in my book for new frases I encountered while working at the food bank. J 

This upcoming week I'm hoping to get the opportunity to help with the social media aspect of the food bank since it will be the last five days of working here. Time has flown by so quickly which is bittersweet because I've grown to love working at the food bank, but I'm excited to get back home and sleep in my own bed and take a shower in my own bathroom!