Project Hope in the Kitchen

There are, perhaps, a few of us who can remember our mothers or grandmothers cooking on a wood burning stove.  One does not have to go back as far as “The Little House on the Prairie” to conjure images of splitting wood in the dead of winter so that the evening meal can be prepared.  In those days, cooking was labor intensive. 

In Kenya, it still is.  One of the interesting sites along the roadside in Kisumu are the mostly older women who sit and roast maize either on a small charcoal cooker called a jiko or even on an open fire between three rocks.  These roasted maize “walk-ups” are the fast food of Kenya.  For 10 shillings (about 14 cents) you can enjoy a cob of roasted maize on your evening walk home.

At Agape, the cooking is still done in the traditional cooking style.  A much larger charcoal jiko is used to heat water in a 100-liter “suffria” (aluminum pot).  In this suffria, many dishes are prepared three times a day for our 106 boys.  In the morning, tea is cooked, for lunch and dinner, an assortment of dishes are prepared: rice, boiled goat or beef, a dish of maize and beans called “nyoiyo” and “ugali”—a corn mush.

Since this cooking is done over charcoal, the work is hard, hot and dirty.  It isn’t unusual for the cooks to sweat profusely in the preparation of the meals. And when the temperatures average 95 during the day—as they have been lately—it can push 115 in the kitchen.  It is an unhealthy environment for the cooks as well.  Lung infections are common among cooks from inhaling the smoke.  It is also expensive and the price of charcoal continues to increase.  But people are not the only ones who suffer from the common use of charcoal, so does the environment.

Project Hope is about to change the kitchen at Agape.  One of the first items to be purchased with the MG for Agape is a fuel efficient wood burning stove.  With four six inch long pieces of wood used in a fuel efficient stove, all three meals can be prepared.  The stove can heat three containers simultaneously so that the cooks can put together the entire menu for the day at the same time.  And because these stoves are insulated so well, water can be kept hot for up to 8 hours even after the fire dies down.  The kitchen will be completely smoke free as the venting of the stove will take any smoke outside the kitchen.

This improvement will not only make cooking much easier but much more economical and safe. 

In addition to the cookers, we have in mind to purchase an efficient bread baker as well so that our cooks can bake their own fresh bread each day. 

Recently Patty and I along with our cook visited a display of these wares at a local high school.  It was very exciting to listen to the description of these cookers from the representatives present but also to hear heads of schools who had purchased these items describe how wonderful they were working for them.

We really look forward to the improvements at Agape as a result of the generosity of District 5220.  God bless each and everyone of you for your generosity and vision for the needs of these former street boys 9000 miles away.

Photos included

God bless