The big boxes usually contain apples.
Big bags full of butternut squash.
Food storage area
Once or twice a week a large white truck pulls up to the school and unloads bags and boxes of food for school lunches. Always included are rice, mealie meal (for making pap), onions, butternut squash (which they call pumpkin), and a fresh fruit. Other items might include canned fish (pilchards in tomatol sauce), baked beans, and swiss chard (which they call spinach).
The truck driver and two men spend about 10-15 minutes unloading the items and placing everything in a partitioned corner of the principal’s office. Each morning the women serving as one of two school cooks pick up whatever items they need for that day’s meal and carry the items to the shed (aka, kitchen) for cooking. Note: The fresh fruit (oranges, apples, bananas, etc.) is typically passed out to the children during class near the end of the day.
I have been told that for some children, this is their only meal of the day. I have seen a couple of children faint during the morning assembly, and was told it was likely due to not having eaten breakfast and/or possibly anything the night before. The lunch break at the primary school is at 10:00am, which seems early until one remembers how important it is to get the kids fed so they can concentrate on the school work.
Grating carrots by hand. One of two cooks working to serve over 400 learners. Makes ~$4 a day.
