What does it mean to practice nutrition in a community where culture, family traditions, agriculture, and access to food are all part of the conversation?
For Kansas State University students Piper Eggener and Jennifer Betzen, answering that question meant stepping outside the classroom and spending three months in Guatemala with Natün’s Nutrition & Health team. Through Natün’s partnership with Kansas State University, students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience while learning alongside Indigenous communities and supporting community-based health initiatives.
During their internship, Piper and Jennifer worked alongside the Nutrition & Health team, supporting community activities and service-learning projects focused on women and children. While they shared the same internship experience, each student brought her own perspective to the work and the lessons she took away from her time in Guatemala.
Seeing Nutrition in a Different Context
Piper Eggener is entering her senior year at Kansas State University, where she is majoring in Dietetics and minoring in Psychology. At Natün, she supported a service-learning project focused on nutrition education and mental health materials for pregnant women and women with young children.
As someone experiencing Guatemala for the first time, Piper arrived with few expectations about what community nutrition would look like. She expected issues such as food insecurity and access to health care to be central to the work. What surprised her was how much culture, family traditions, economic circumstances, and community relationships influence nutrition and health.
“Understanding the communities’ experiences and perspectives is just as important as knowing science-based nutrition facts.”
During her time with Natün, Piper encountered nutrition recommendations and child growth monitoring practices that differed from what she had learned in the United States. Rather than simply highlighting differences between the two countries, the experience gave her an opportunity to apply her academic knowledge while considering how nutrition education needs to adapt to different cultural and economic contexts.
Meeting People Where They Are
One of Piper’s favorite parts of the internship was engaging directly with community members.
Her previous experiences in health care had largely taken place in clinical settings, where the focus was often on addressing an existing health concern. At Natün, she experienced a more proactive approach, where nutrition education and health interventions are used to support the well-being of women and children over time.
These experiences also changed how Piper thinks about culturally relevant nutrition.
“The purpose of a nutritionist or dietitian here is not to judge or ask people to abandon their traditional food practices, but to understand their values and find ways to build healthy dietary patterns that fit their lifestyle.”
For Piper, this became a lesson she hopes to carry into her future career:
“I think it’s so important to meet people where they are at. Everyone comes from different backgrounds with different cultural practices, financial resources, and needs.”
Piper wasn’t the only Kansas State student learning through this experience. Jennifer also spent three months in Guatemala working with Natün’s Nutrition & Health team. In her video, she shares her own perspective on the internship, including what she learned from working with the team and experiencing life in Guatemala.
For both students, the experience offered an opportunity to connect their academic studies with community-based work while learning from the people and communities around them.
Interested in Learning With Natün?
Natün offers opportunities for students and volunteers to gain meaningful experience while learning alongside Indigenous communities in Guatemala.
Contact us for more information at info@natunguatemala.org
