We were fascinated with the large scale food preparation that occurs each day by these wonderful women for the children at the Village of Hope Mwanza. Many photos we share in our posts are situations or events that were unexpected from our perspective. Cooking for 200+ children is an enormous effort but must start with wood for the fire. This man uses a machete to cut the wood. I asked him if I could try it. The wood was very hard and after about 10 swings I had only cut about 1/2 inch (1cm) into it. He does this for hours.
The house moms are responsible for the children’s homes but are also tasked with preparing the food which includes two nutritious mid day meals for the neighbourhood kids that attend school. The women are inspecting the food prior to cooking to remove any impurities. This seems to be a social time for the women as a great deal of talking and laughing was be taking place. Good to see all those smiles! Vegetables, fish and maize are part of the meal in these photos.
Now the hard part of cooking on these large outdoor pots starts. With the temperatures outside approaching 30 degrees Celsius we can only imagine how hot it gets standing next to them stirring the food.
Here is a video of the final stages of making the mid morning porridge:
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