Mama Lucy working in the dining room kitchen at the Maua Hostel.
The kitchen and the cooking is just part of Lucy's responsibilities as she runs the Hostel, where most of us stayed during our stay in Nyakato.
Most of the cooking for each meal takes place in a separate building behind a row of rooms at the Hostel. Pots of vegies, meat, rice and other foods are cooked over charcoal fires.
Mama Lucy has a staff of girls that help her with the prep and cooking for each meal.
A pan of meat cooking - even though it had tasty seasoning the meat was often "skinny" (very chewy and stringy). There were a couple afternoons when we could hear a chicken or two squawking from the cooking building - and sure enough we had a chicken dish that night for dinner.
One of Lucy's girls peeling potatoes for dinner.
This young gal wanted me to come inside the cooking building to take her picture.
And as soon as I had taken the shot she ran out and took off her apron and posed in front of the beautiful bouganvilla bush.
Back in the kitchen this gal was working on making something using a large and very interesting machine.
It turns out she was making communion wafers for Sunday's church services.
The machine is a heat press that makes large sheets of wafers at a time.
The smaller wafers are perforated and are easily separated out of the big sheet.
Mama Lucy and her girls also provide laundry service to the patrons of the Hostel, which includes line drying and pressing.
Sherlyn already has mentioned that she watched Lucy prepare food to feed 40, three times a day, without convenience foods or much refrigeration; no hot water unless heated on the stove. It’s like indoor camping! And yet, this is normal for here.
No matter what the task, everyone who works with Mama Lucy always seems to be smiling.
On our last night at the Hostel, Mama Lucy was given a laptop by one of our team members - I know he wanted to remain anonymous, but it is a huge gift for Lucy, who was doing all her paperwork for the Hostel by hand. Thanks CWP for your generosity to such a deserving woman.
Mama Lucy working in the dining room kitchen at the Maua Hostel.
The kitchen and the cooking is just part of Lucy's responsibilities as she runs the Hostel, where most of us stayed during our stay in Nyakato.
Most of the cooking for each meal takes place in a separate building behind a row of rooms at the Hostel. Pots of vegies, meat, rice and other foods are cooked over charcoal fires.
Mama Lucy has a staff of girls that help her with the prep and cooking for each meal.
A pan of meat cooking - even though it had tasty seasoning the meat was often "skinny" (very chewy and stringy). There were a couple afternoons when we could hear a chicken or two squawking from the cooking building - and sure enough we had a chicken dish that night for dinner.
One of Lucy's girls peeling potatoes for dinner.
This young gal wanted me to come inside the cooking building to take her picture.
And as soon as I had taken the shot she ran out and took off her apron and posed in front of the beautiful bouganvilla bush. 
Back in the kitchen this gal was working on making something using a large and very interesting machine.
It turns out she was making communion wafers for Sunday's church services.
The machine is a heat press that makes large sheets of wafers at a time.
The smaller wafers are perforated and are easily separated out of the big sheet.
Mama Lucy and her girls also provide laundry service to the patrons of the Hostel, which includes line drying and pressing.
Sherlyn already has mentioned that she watched Lucy prepare food to feed 40, three times a day, without convenience foods or much refrigeration; no hot water unless heated on the stove. It’s like indoor camping! And yet, this is normal for here.
No matter what the task, everyone who works with Mama Lucy always seems to be smiling.
On our last night at the Hostel, Mama Lucy was given a laptop by one of our team members - I know he wanted to remain anonymous, but it is a huge gift for Lucy, who was doing all her paperwork for the Hostel by hand. Thanks CWP for your generosity to such a deserving woman.
