We had 18 women from --- Women's Groups attend. We learned about Color from Katie Kron our intern from Winston Salem NC. Two important factors affect color, that it Changes, affected by light and darkness and that it is Relative, affected by it's surroundings! The women who came to learn were fascinated by the hands on examples and applications that Katie presented. Lilian, Luan and Emma presented: How to make a Slow Cooker or Marriage Saver Basket! Complete with beans to eat that had been prepared in the basket that morning! Lilian had been experimenting with the basket and Luan put together all the details for the women to take home and create their own basket. It saves firewood, fuel, charcoal and Time! African women almost always have to sit and nurture their fires cooked over wood and charcoal and the basket gives much needed freedom to prepare food over the fire for 15- 30 min. and then place the HOT covered pot in to the Slow cooker basket for 2 hours or up to 6 hours and come back to find your meal ready for consumption.
Slow Cooker Basket is created using:
Stuffing (dried Banana leaves (minus the tough ridges), cotton fibers, old clothes or dried grasses) this is the Insulation that makes the whole thing work!
You use the dried fibers to pack tightly inside the basket - this keeps the Heat inside the pot!
1 Ridgid weave Basket twice the diameter of your cooking pot with an equal amount underneath the pot.
Polyurethane roofing sheeting - or heavy plastic sheeting to line the basket and fold over the stuffing, tuck it in after you have stuffed the basket TIGHTLY with dried fibers!
Kadeya (a large bag used to carry millet, maize, etc.) to cover and seal in the insulation.
Pillow, stuffed with insulation (covered in Kitenge, if you like) for the top.
Pop your pot of partially-cooked food in the nest of insulation (on top of the plastics) and cover with the pillow, sealing the edges.
Voila! in a couple of hours, after using your time for other activities, you've got a meal!
Hi! It's Katie taking over for Pat! Boy, what a day yesterday! It was great to see all of the work and creativity of the women we live amongst, and of those who have been called to teach us. We actually began the day with a Bible study on Justification by Faith, taught by Pat. It was a complex lesson to teach, but Pat's wisdom and courage led us through the story of Abram and Sarai: How God counts our Faith in Him as righteousness, and how we don't have to depend on our obedience for God to fulfill his promises. He is our Gracious Father, our Shield, and our Great Reward. Hallelujah!
I followed with a lesson on Colors. Per usual, I began in a state of nerves, but soon found that I had an incredibly attentive and interested class - despite their advantages in age and wisdom. For anyone who has studied color theory (or who has thought about it but not followed through for various reasons), you know how intimidating the subject can seem. I am no exception. However, with insight from Pat and others, I found ways to present the concepts to an audience unfamiliar with even basic concepts of color. With hands-on and interactive examples, the lesson was a success. As Pat said earlier, I was able to boil it down to a couple basic, easy-to-understand principles. Namely, that colors change, that colors are a perception, and that they are defined and governed by two main factors, Hue and Light. As one of my first intensive teaching endeavors, I learned to a new extent how much you can teach yourself when you're teaching others!
After my lesson, we broke for a lunch of matooke (unsweet cooked bananas - the staple here), beans, and avocados - yum! It never ceases to amaze me how much these Ugandan women can eat at one sitting. Although, I have to say, some of them do tend to get rather sleepy-eyed for a few hours afterward.
After lunch, Lillian, Luan, and Emma presented the "Cooking Basket" (or "marriage saver basket", as Pat likes to call it), outlined above. For those of you who don't know, Luan is a mzungu ("non-african") missionary teaching a young women's Bible study/school and working with other local women in a similar way to WOTP. Emma is her (mzungu) intern for the summer, studying Women's Ministry and Music back home in Missouri. Lillian (Ugandan) teaches Primary 7 level (about 7th grade) English, and has been working with Luan on several projects. Most recently, Lillian has been the scientist of the cooking basket - experimenting relentlessly with local foods. She's such an encouragement. She says so matter-of-factly, with a grin, "I just don't accept failure. If it didn't work today, I get up and try again tomorrow." She's been working with this thing for the last 6 weeks, around her teaching schedule! It was very fun and interesting to see how the basket is put together, and the amazing results that are possible. But more than anything it was wonderful to see how these women (mzungu and Ugandans) are working so diligently and excitedly together to serve others, to spread the Glory of God's Kingdom.
Finally, Rosylyne was invited to share with us the art of beaded animals for keychains. After seeing some in the craft shops, she decided to teach herself how to make the little elephants, giraffes (pronounced "ger-aff-ees"), lizards, and zebras (or goats, whichever you prefer to call them...okay so maybe that was just my mistake. But there are definitely more goats around than zebras!! (pronounced "zeh-bruhs" by the way)). So, we finished off our long day of learning with a relaxing and humorous attempt at making these tiny creatures. It was good to be able to socialize with and enjoy the company of the women who had spent the day solely on the receiving end of our spouts of knowledge.
Today, we are planning a visit to Rosylyne's community women's group where Emma will teach cake decorating. Luan mainly works with this group outside of her own young women's Bible training. At their last meeting, Luan and Emma taught how to bake cakes on the charcoal stove using sand. (Sorry to say that I cannot elaborate as I was not at the meeting.)So, the women have prepared several cakes for todays activities. I'm very excited as I have some experience decorating cakes and would love to know more!
This Saturday, Pat and I plan to go back to New Hope Primary school (where the Kym and Lydia attend) to teach embroidery to the boarding school girls. They apparently have little to do in their downtime and are interested in learning what we've already taught the Girl Guides there.
I'm continually amazed at the longing for growth and new ideas here in Fort Portal. Perhaps it is inspired by the incessant plant life, or maybe it's just God's hands at work in yet another piece of our lives. Here for the sake of the people, and here to inspire and encourage the teachers.
We will write more soon, as there is a lot to catch you up on from the last several weeks.
God Bless,
Katie and Pat
