Introduction​

After our initial trip to La Guajira in April, we came back to Idaho and worked with a local Mexican restaurant to come up with 4 recipes and a drink that include cactus. The owner instructed my wife and I how to prepare and cook the cactus properly. In October 2017 we returned to the Guajira. Again we met with several of the faculty and students from the University of the Guajira. We rode down the road and collected wild growing cactus and returned. We spent the day teaching the students how to prepare and cook the cactus so that they could go out to the communities and in turn teach them. Another day of the visit we met with Martin Hoyos Baron Local corodinator of the United Nations Accion contra el Hambre program. He and his assistants helped train the students from the University of the Guajira how to collect measurements of childrens heights and weights so that we could conduct a nutritional assessment. On our way home from the Guajira we stopped again Valledupar where I taught a public health class at the local university.

 

After we left Colombia, the students from the University of the Guajira visited the villages and collected the measurements of the children. They sent BYU Idaho the results and our students analyzed the results and compared them to the Nivacle in Paraguay. The results showed a higher state of malnutrition in the Guajira than in Abundancia. Our students presented their poster at a Research and Creative Works conference here in Idaho. The students from the Guajira also began a program to teach the Wayuu how to prepare and cook cactus. At the end of their project they also submitted their research project to their University and were rewarded by being invited to the Nation Research Competition where they earned scholarships and the lead student was flown to Mexico to learn from professionals.