Letizia stands up in Guatemala against child malnutrition and violence: “Now there are much healthier lives of boys and girls”

Second day of the queen in Guatemala. This is her ninth solo cooperation trip and she is enjoying it to the fullest. This Thursday, the institutional agenda has not given her a break: from a visit to the Official school of San José de Chacayá to a meeting with indigenous leaders from Sololá. With the same look as the first day (green jeans, white shirt, aid worker’s vest and wide boots), Mrs. Letizia has dedicated herself to children and women at risk, taking an interest in all the improvement projects that are being developed and that have Spanish collaboration.

The day at school began. The queen has returned to class for a few hours and has done so with a splendid smile, the same one with which she has been received by dozens of children from San José, who happily showed her her drawings. The queen has also been interested in the practices that are being developed in the center due to the project to rehabilitate the water and sanitation service.

After this first visit, Mrs. Letizia has supervised the Spanish Cooperation project to strengthen Primary Health Care and reduce child malnutrition in Guatemala and has ended with a beautiful and colorful meeting with the indigenous leaders of Sololá, immersed in a ” political training for women and young people for participation and impact in decision-making spaces for gender equality.”

The queen has been very close and affectionate with all of them and has admired the local crafts in an improvised market. Accompanied by the mayor of the municipality, she also attended the TVE cameras and praised the work of the Spanish aid workers in the area: “The improvements in water and sanitation have led to a 2 percent improvement in childhood chronic malnutrition, which It is very important, because that percentage seems small but there are much healthier lives of boys and girls there.”

The program of the queen’s trip to Guatemala has been designed around three axes: the fight against child malnutrition; the elimination of violence against women and girls, especially in indigenous populations; and education in young people and their professional training. Her next stop is Chimaltenango, where she will visit two of the nine projects being carried out to eliminate gender violence. Before returning to Spain, she will make a last stop in La Antigua, where she will visit the Training Center and hold a meeting with the Spanish aid workers working in the country.