The District officially launched the project to strengthen and modernize the food service at the San Antonio de Prado preschool, in collaboration with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA).

The initiative, which is currently in the implementation and technical monitoring phase, involves renovating the facility and installing industrial kitchen equipment for food preparation, refrigeration, and storage, as well as specialized utensils. In addition, staff responsible for the food service will receive training to ensure the proper and efficient use of the new equipment.

The new equipment will expand the preschool’s food storage and preparation capacities; the facility currently serves 320 children. The addition of this equipment will enable greater efficiency in meal preparation and reduced resource consumption in the daily operations of this and other nearby locations. Additionally, this initiative strengthens the local care network, benefiting more than 800 children enrolled in the “Acompáñame a Ser Feliz,” “Horizontes,” and “Constructores de Sueños” children’s centers. “International cooperation truly comes into its own when it translates into people’s well-being.

Thanks to this partnership with TİKA, we are improving nutrition and care for the children of San Antonio de Prado, helping them grow up with better opportunities. That is the purpose of the cooperation we promote at ACI Medellín: to generate real benefits for communities and regions,” said Miguel Betancur, Director of Cooperation at ACI Medellín.

For her part, the director of Buen Comienzo, Diana Carmona, said: “Thanks to our collaboration with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), we were able to strengthen the food service at the San Antonio de Prado Preschool by providing kitchen utensils, pots, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, and other equipment that help us continue to improve the service and the delivery of daily meals to the children. Through this partnership, we continue working toward the goal of ensuring food security for our children in preschools and childcare centers, where they receive between 70% and 80% of their daily nutritional needs.”

The official launch of the project coincided with a visit to Medellín by a technical delegation from Turkey led by the director of the TİKA Office in Colombia, Ahmed Faruk Muştakoğlu, along with 17 university students participating in the global exchange program Tecrübe Paylaşım Programı (TPP). During the event, held in the El Limonar I neighborhood, the group distributed 100 school kits and worked with the children to create a mural.