Hello, my name is Hitomi Abe and I recently graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Nutrition. I am excited to work with the Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services this summer, as a nutrition instructor.

ETSS is a non-profit organization that provides services to refugee families throughout Columbus. Services include after-school tutoring, summer camps, adult english classes, as well as many more. This summer, ETSS is running 3 different summer programs with over 50 kids at each site! I will be working at 2 of the sites, teaching nutrition education to the camp kids.

The staff here at ETSS have been extremely kind to me, answering all of my questions about the summer program! It is great to learn more about working for a non-profit organization, and I am grateful that ETSS has given me a big responsibility to lead the nutrition lessons for the summer.

This week, I have been busy preparing for the camp. So far, I have created 5 weeks of nutrition and gardening lessons. I’ll start on Monday with the kids teaching the My Plate as well as basic gardening skills. I created a My Plate poster with various foods from each food group. For the gardening skills, I am going to take the kids out to the community garden to plant some seeds! I’m so excited to meet the kids and have a fun and rewarding experience.

Wish me luck as I begin my summer with ETSS!