School Cooks
// Rachel DeTellis
Good, nourishing food is precious to Haitians and is an important path to their hearts.
Our 41 school cooks and over 40 assistants are all unsung heroes. They arrive at work by 6:00 a.m. to begin preparation. Since the missionʼs earliest days, we have had the goal of using propane to cook our school food. However, not all of our school kitchens have this set up, so these resourceful ladies will begin their cooking the Haitian way—either on three stones with wood or on a metal frame with charcoal. They use large 10-gallon size cooking pots and must maneuver 50-pound sacks of rice and beans. The cooks at our largest elementary school, Masson, will cook 165 pounds of rice a day! They use garlic, sea salt, tomato paste, herbs, dried/salted herring, and some vegetables and fresh fish are added when available.
Leogane Guillaume campus first grade teacher, Yanique Jean Baptise, serves hungry students rice and beans.
Not only does cooking the food take skill, but serving it takes a good eye. They portion it out to the children appropriately so all get the right amount. We are so grateful for their service to bless our students. ~Rachel DeTellis
