GCNF

Today I find myself in sunny Yerevan, volunteering as note-taker at the Global Child Nutrition Conference. Seriously, the GCNF is amazing. It consists of delegations from all over the world, with representatives from Armenia to Zimbabwe all in attendance. During the conference, the participants discuss ways to create nutritious school meal programs in their countries to better promote school attendance and healthy growth in children. In Armenia, where approximately 1 in 5 children suffers from malnutrition-related stunted growth, school meals are an important part of national development. 

The conference itself is being held at the Marriott in Republic Square. The view is amazing, and really showcases the most impressive urban center in Armenia.

For the past few days, I've mostly been working to help participants check in and get registered for the conference, but today we had the opening ceremony, and I got a taste of what the next week will hold for me.

And while most of that taste involves me frantically typing away, trying furiously to get through the often-times confusing simultaneous translations. But, it also involves amazing conversations and small group work,  for which I'm really excited to be a fly-on-the-wall.

Of course, I was super excited to see that my family's favorite international aid organizations, Mary's Meals, had a representative at the Forum. And, I'd be remiss if I didn't direct you to my cousin's beautiful movies detailing the great work that Mary's Meals does, Child 31 and Generation Hope

I'm really excited for the next week. The GCNF is an amazing organization, and I already know that being allowed to volunteer at this forum is going to be one of the highlights of PC service for me.