Making a difference with soy in Central America

Representatives from the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), the National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) at the University of Illinois, and the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) are traveling to Guatemala and Honduras during the week of February 21st to visit project sites and to participate in the Nutrition Solutions for Central America Conference in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Central America has a population of over 41 million people and is nestled between North America and South America. We currently have on-going projects in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, all countries challenged by malnutrition, especially among children.

ISA and NSRL/WISHH have been working together in the Central American region for over six years in projects designed to create nutrition solutions to the challenge of malnutrition in the region. The projects in 2009 and 2010 have also included partnership through a Cargill grant to the World Soy Foundation (WSF) to work on projects as part of their robust Corporate Social Responsibility Project. The projects have focused on nutritional solutions in the school lunch programs, early childhood nutrition, and microenterprise development.

The team members for this trip include; C.W. Gaffner – ISA Director, Tim Scates – ISA Director, Bill Wykes – ISA Director, Mark Albertson – ISA Staff, Vijaya Jain – NSRL Staff, Courtney Tamimie – NSRL Staff, Bridget Owen – NSRL Staff, Jim Hershey – WISHH Staff, Nathan Ruby – WSF Staff, and Nayeli Villanova – NSRL/WISHH Consultant.

We departed Illinois in a light rain and cold fog early Sunday morning. A portion of the group departed from St. Louis, others from Chicago and one from Peoria. Today was a challenging day to fly with several of the group experiencing flight delays and re-routing of itineraries. It wouldn’t be international travel without a few schedule changes and extra time in the Miami airport!

NSRL staff person Courtney Tamimie said good bye to the group in Miami and traveled onto San Pedro Sula, Honduras to prepare for the upcoming Nutrition Solutions for Central American Conference to be held later in the week.

Even with the late departures, the group was re-united in Guatemala City where everyone shared travel updates and the details of the next day were discussed. It is great to be in Guatemala City and we are eager for the Monday’s schedule of meetings, trainings, and visits to our project sites.

Check back later this week to find out if the sun is shining in Central America and I’ll have updates on our visits to project sites and more about the conference.