Gobatown!

2-5-13

     So we’re in Monrovia again, revisiting sites here that Nina and I visited in April of 2012. Lauren Wood, another nutrition consultant from GF&N, arrived this weekend and yesterday she, Nicole and I visited the Early Childhood Development center in Gobatown, about an hour outside of Monrovia. This is essentially a pre-school, a place for kids under five to receive education and an on-site meal. The kids here have been eating herring regularly for the past 9 months.

     Since our last visit, more of the kids have uniforms, and they have moved into a larger and newer building. They sang us a sweet welcome song, and then we went back to the outdoor kitchen to see the cooks preparing a large meal of herring stew and rice for the kids.

     Most Liberian food I’ve tried consists of a plate of rice with some sort of stew on top. The stew always has lots of spice from hot peppers (YUM), and a lot of oil. This stew had cassava greens, onion, peppers, herring, and oil. They brought the huge pot of stew and the huge pot of rice into the classroom and served the kids lunch, while mothers with little babies dined just outside the door. Nicole and Lauren chatted with moms and kids about how they liked the herring. Not surprisingly, people consistently said they liked it. 

     As usual, the kids were downright adorable. They gathered around Nicole and grabbed her hands, wiping them, almost like they were trying to wipe off her white skin and she would have brown skin underneath. Some kids were more afraid and suspicious than fascinated. A toddler started crying when I took his picture, which of course made me feel terrible because he was afraid of me, but his mom thought it was hilarious and kept telling me to take his picture. 

All in all a fun and successful visit!

 Someone had written this on the wall in the kitchen.

Lauren helps dish up lunch for the kids. 

 Loves the camera.