Lunch

We decided that I would write about lunch since M eats food at local restaurants in Msambweni. I eat lunch at school every day. The children have the option of receiving lunch through school for 70 KSH (about $0.95) and teachers eat for free. The children who do not pay for lunch have food brought to the school by their parents. Interestingly there is not concept of a ‘cold lunch’, all the food whether purchased or brought is hot; no child is sent with a brown bag.

There is a schedule of five lunches that are served every week:
• Monday = Rice + beans
• Tuesday = Rice + lentils
• Wednesday = Ugali (basically dry polenta) + cabbage
• Thursday = Rice + beans
• Friday = Pilau (spiced rice + small amount of meat)

The lunch includes no drink, each child brings their own water since the well at the school is incredibly salty. The lunch is fairly filling but lacking in variety and nutrients by American standards. Most children eat the white bread and margarine at recess and then the lunch provided by the school. While they are calorically probably fine because of the rice, there are few fruits and vegetables included in their day at least to lunch.

I eat the lunch provided because the other teachers eat it and I have no desire to stand out by buying my own lunch in town. It would send myriad bad messages that I have no interest in sending. It also prevents me from having to buy lunch. M’s lab generously covers my meals eaten within our house but we need to pay for anything else I eat out of pocket.

We are served separately from the primary school since we’re across the main road. They bring our meals across each day in small plastic containers. Unfortunately, they have failed to increase the amount of food sent throughout the year to account for the fact that the children are growing. They still send the same amount they sent in January with little extra and all the children are almost a year older. Mary tells me that they’ve repeatedly asked for more food but it never comes. When the kids ask for more, we dish it out from our portions (we get larger “teacher” portions) so that they get enough to eat. This seems to be a pattern we’ve noticed, it’s better that there’s slightly less rather than anything be wasted here. No one is going hungry but no one is getting anything more than they absolutely need either.

Here are some photos of the meals from school:

This is pilau. The recipe calls for rice, meat, and veggies spiced with cinnamon, curry, and cardamom. In practice, it’s rice with spices and 1-2 bites of non-rice items.


This is the rice and beans. To be clear, the beans are only the top layer that you can see, the rice stretches the entire box. I usually can only eat half of the rice before I’m too full anyway so I’m happy that the kids like to eat it.

Many people in Africa still suffer from major food shortages with alarming frequency but I have a feeling that the lack of variety and nutrients is much more pervasive. I am really thankful for the hearty breakfast and the veggie-packed dinners every night.