It's so much fun to help serve the school lunch. Cooks begin early in the morning, crushing spices with their pestle and morter. By the time I have coffee, the meal is well underway. Three faithful women cook huge quanties of rice and beans, cooking sauce separately that will later be poured over the rice mixture. It takes hours to prepare food for over 200 children in an outdoor kitchen. When lunch is ready, Jabon and Guy carry the largest pots I've ever seen to the porch of the school. A sturdy table is there that is central to the serving. Lumenn comes with the aluminum bowls and spoons. Muriel carries two big pots that will be filled with soap and water for cleaning bowls and spoons, which she washes and rinses as each class is served. Lumenn sits on a low chair with a pot of rice and beans on the floor in front of her. She scoops from the pot to fill the aluminum bowls. The first classes are the preschool and kindergarten. Jabon and Guy serve the younger children in the classroom. I'm first in line to help. The young ones make a big mess but eat all the food in their bowls. The older children, beginning with first grade, form neat lines and with the guidance of the school director, come to the serving table for their meal. I love to see that the younger children come to the table smiling, talking, and visibly eager to have their lunch. The older ones kind of swager like typical teenagers. I note that all the kids are mannerly, saying thank you when handed their food, and are orderly, staying in line waiting their turn.
I know that many have had no food before coming to school, and many will have nothing till tomorrow's lunch.
After the last student is served and the bowls and spoons are returned, Lumenn, Muriel, Guy, and Jabon carry everything back to the Friendship House yard, where it is all cleaned and organized for tomorrow's lunch.
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