Erik Locón

Project:  A Kitchen for Teaching and Providing Nutritious Meals 

Quote: “A project must start from the interests and needs of the community, and promote leadership from within, to identify and solve problems; specifically, when it comes to education. ConnectED understands this and supports us to develop our collective capacity and leadership skills.”

Favorite Book: La Patria Del Criollo

Favorite Activity: Being with his family and playing with his kids 

About: The oldest of nine siblings, Erik grew up in a household with limited resources. As a child, Erik dreamed of working with cars, hoping one day he would become a mechanic. However, when his father offered him the opportunity to study teaching, Erik decided to give it a chance. Erik quickly realized that he enjoyed studying and learning how to interact with children and decided to pursue a teaching degree. Currently, Erik is a middle school principal and Mayan-Spanish bilingual primary school teacher in Sololá. Recently, he completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Leadership. In his free time, Erik organizes extracurricular sports, cultural events, and social activities for youth in his community along with the local Community Development Council. 

Erik considers himself a lifelong learner and is committed to improving education in his community. He sees a lack of safe and adequate facilities such as the school’s kitchen making it difficult for his students to receive a quality education and proper nutrition. Erik is determined to improve his students’ health by addressing critical infrastructure needs in hopes it will create more meaningful and enriching educational experiences. 

“We need to start from the interests and needs of the community itself and promote leadership from within to identify and solve problems; specifically, the education of the Canoense youth.”

Problem: Many students in Erik’s community work in the field in the morning and come to school with an empty stomach or they eat a quick unhealthy breakfast on the go. Poor nutrition and not eating healthy balanced meals, especially in the morning, prevent students from staying engaged in school. 

Solution: Erik created a school kitchen with eating space and a feeding program. Today, students are provided with nutritious meals prepared by mothers who are trained in nutritional health. Additionally, students learn about the kitchen and are taught how to prepare food. Through this project, students are eating nutritious food which positively impacts their success in the classroom.