Day 6 - Cook on strike!

Thursday 14th April

This morning I was unable to meet with Mohammed until 1030, unlike the usual 930. The reason for this was that a number of the school's management team was in extended talks with the cook, who had not been preparing food for some days. She was upset for reasons that weren't clear to me, but may have been valid for all I know. The situation was complicated by the fact that she is the sister of the late husband of Miriam, the country director, and the school is on land that is owned by her. The management team nonetheless boldly chose to clarify for her that the pupils are the school's customers, and if they're not happy with the food they're receiving, then this has to be heeded.

For the last few days, all they had had was gari, which is made by grating cassava, and then putting it in a bag and squeezing it until all the water comes out. This can then be mixed with spices, onions and fish (or whatever else). I tried it and quite liked it, although I recognise that a diet consisting of nothing else for several days would be lacking in variety. I assume the reason for only eating gari all this time was that it keeps well.

When not eating gari, the usual staple in Sierra Leone is rice, which grows in the highlands. I understand that there's quite a lot of inefficiency in the way that agriculture is done in Sierra Leone. There is apparently little mechanisation, and the situation is exacerbated by a complicated land tenure system. The result is that Sierra Leone still has to import rice. So many of my meals are rice and beans or rice and potato leaf or cassava leaf "soup" (curry would probably be a more appropriate word in UK English)

After a couple of hours talking with the cook, the school's management team was successful and the cook was willing to provide food for the pupils once again.