Clean up

On November 11th was Saint Martin's day. Of course, this is also celebrated every year at St. Martin CSA. The entire staff with relatives, as well as various delegations from partner institutions, other related organizations, and the local government, including one department each from the district prisons for men and women, are invited. There are about 500-600 people exspected. To start, all receive a cup of chai and a piece of pastry, then the large assembly hall is filled. After a series of presentations, the choir and the mass, the visitors are fed. Needless to say that the preparations take time: The day before, all the chairs and benches need to be arrange, tents to set against the possible rain, and the kitchen to be installed, this year the cooking will take place on open fire in the emptied out garage. I am assigned to the vegetable section and release peas from their pods for two hours. Then one hour of cutting up carrots and finally one hour of peeling potatoes. All this with a team of 10-15 people and a lot of laughter. On the festive day itself, the morning is used for cooking. The food is served by three stations, one each for children, women and men. And then it is time for washing the dishes which lasts for three hours. I'm back on the scene too, this time responsible for the supply of hot water out of the garage kitchen. And after that it's going out to the next bigger city of Nakuru.