Teaching Nutrition Education to Children in Dharamshala 

One of my favorite experiences working with NEEM was providing nutrition education

to children in Dharmshala. I went on this trip after completing my junior year in the dietetics

program and would say that public speaking was definitely a skill I was lacking. One of the

amazing things about this trip was that it allowed me to practice speaking in front of others and

get more comfortable providing nutrition information. Surprisingly, I found it easier to speak in

front of the children there as opposed to the adults. I have continued to find this out about

myself as I have had experiences to teach back home.

The school my group went to was filled with lively children who all seemed eager to

have visitors come and share a message with them. I remember being very excited for this part

of the day. We divided sections of the lesson plan we would be sharing with the children prior

to arriving, and all took turns sharing our individual parts. We shared simple nutrition education

with the children which included healthy foods to eat and hand washing. Although the cultures

are extremely different, kids everywhere are so similar. Their attention span is short, and we

could not teach for longer than five minutes without throwing in some sort of activity. Luckily

for us, the activities were the best part. This meant we got to interact with all of the cute kids

around us. We had a variety of coloring activities for the children to participate in and a Choose

My Plate activity that allowed the kids to decide if particular foods were appropriate for a

balanced meal. As we took the time to help the children, even though there was a language

barrier, they seemed to latch on to us. This particular teaching opportunity opened my eyes to

my love of working with kids. It has made me realize that no matter the area I choose to work in

with dietetics, I want to work with children.

-Allison Rimmasch