From Learning to Leading: Conducting a Nutrition Lesson in Compone, Peru

Public Health Beyond Borders at Temple University went to Peru in May of 2025. Isabel Lin, one of the members of the team, reflects on her experience below.

Spring 2025. The semester I graduated became one of the most fruitful semesters in my undergraduate experience. From an undergraduate research assistant position that I spent over 300 hours working over 14 weeks to a semester of developing public health interventions and implementing them in Peru, I was able to apply all the public health skills and practices I learned in my courses to real-world scenarios. My study in public health perfectly encompassed my passions for community outreach and educating others to promote health and wellness. My passion for connecting with others, even those halfway across the globe from me, has influenced much of the decisions I made in my undergrad—from studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan to conducting a nutrition lesson in rural Peru.

Over the course of 16 weeks, I collaborated with six other undergraduate students to develop workshops and lessons for rural community in the Andes region of Peru with the support of a graduate mentor and professor. From 3:30pm to 5:30pm on Tuesdays, the team and I sat in a conference room to brainstorm and develop the workshops that were to be implemented in Compone, Peru. The group for the Peru team exhibited a wide range of disciplines from public health to biochemistry, which provided an amazing opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration that allowed each of us to refine and learn new skills, and develop creative interventions. Through rigorous research, we were able to identify important health topics that needed to be addressed, including nutrition as anemia and vitamin deficiencies are common among the population in the Andes region of Peru.

Previous collaborative efforts between Public Health Beyond Borders and the community members in Compone yielded the ideal opportunity to deliver interventions at the local health clinic and schools in the community. Topics and lessons were planned accordingly to ensure efficacy, so the Compone health clinic was identified as the ideal location for the nutrition lesson. Caregivers frequented the health clinic more often, which provided an opportunity to promote nutrition to community members through those that closely play a role in the food behaviors of those in their households. Through the research conducted on the health trends and resources in Peru, key strategies and interventions were identified as the most culturally competent and effective for application at the Compone health clinic.

Given my previous experience creating nutrition-related health education materials, I led the development and implementation of the nutrition lesson at the local health clinic in Compone. As I developed the nutrition lesson for the health clinic, I utilized many of the skills and practices I learned in many of the public health courses I have taken. The information gathered through the research and planning process helped me identify evidence-based practices and interventions that have been effective in communicating nutrition information. I looked to international organizations to develop a more culturally competent lesson plan. For example, I included the dietary guideline from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations specific for Peru as guide.

Once we arrived in the picturesque Andean community of Compone, we connected with Luzmila at the health clinic to coordinate our public health interventions and review our lesson plans. Luzmila was gracious and excited to collaborate with us to deliver these interventions, particularly to increase the community’s knowledge of anemia and preventative measures they can take to lessen their risk of anemia. In addition to the nutrition lesson planned, Luzmila suggested a food demonstration that would provide the opportunity for community members to learn about familiar dishes they could incorporate more into their diets to ensure they are getting proper nutrients. I revised the nutrition lesson to incorporate the dish—soltero with fish—to connect each of the ingredients of the Peruvian salad to the nutrients they provide.

Conducting a lesson in front of a group can be nerve-wracking, so not speaking the local language makes it even more daunting. After translating all my materials and having it reviewed by my Spanish-speaking teammate, I practiced the script until I was able to roll my R’s as close to second nature as I could get. Standing outside of the Compone health clinic on a sunny morning in the Andean mountains of Peru, I delivered my nutrition lesson to 12 caregivers in the community. Dr. Graciela Jaschek, our professor and mentor, supported me through the presentation of my lesson. A nurse at the clinic also provided support during the lesson as she repeated information in Quechua—an indigenous language—for the elder caregivers in attendance. The community members were excited and enthusiastic about the lesson—interacting throughout the hour-long session. The incorporation of the soltero demonstration was successful as the group was able to connect the health benefits to the dish, as well as signifying interest in incorporating the dish into their meals.

Conducting a nutrition lesson in the Andean mountains of Peru on a Wednesday morning just shy of two weeks after graduating with my Bachelor of Science in Public Health was not what I had planned for my undergrad, but it was the perfect way to end my undergraduate time. Public Health Beyond Borders has solidified my passion for advancing health equity through education and community outreach. As I navigate through my career, I will often reflect on the skills I developed and refined through the planning and implementation of this nutrition lesson in Compone.