Cooking Class

Inspiration, Coordination, Cheering, Financing – the Team from Left to Right: Maria da Luz, Alcídia, Sister Broderick, Carmo, and Fatima

One project that has brought Janet and I great satisfaction this year is our adult ed cooking class. It has also fulfilled a dream for Maria da Luz and Fatima who are the heart, experience, and energy behind it all. We have to give great credit to the two adult ed coordinators, Alcídia and Carmo, who have contributed energy, vision, and direct involvement throughout the experience. This is the team shown above.

Humanitarian services has financed more than 90% of the course. In the photo above the full class shows off their work. It was February and our first opportunity to attend their practical class on Saturday.
We first learned of this opportunity about a year ago when we were visiting with Alcídia about various projects ideas of theirs. We learned that the idea came some years earlier from one of their adult ed teachers who loved cooking to use a cooking class to encourage success in adult literacy efforts. Alcidia is the overall coordinator of the adult ed program in São Vicente. They have a very aggressive program to offer both literacy classes, primary school grades, as well as a chance to complete high school grades they missed.
In general literacy in Cape Verde is high among the young, but adult literacy, especially among older women, is poor. Even today it appears that among the poorer people, lack of money and lack of family support leaves too many out.

Illiteracy follows poverty, and one of the challenges in adult ed is how to keep adults in their classes and progressing in development of basic literacy with many other pressures upon them, including financial pressures.
The cooking class was one answer they saw to reduce adult drop outs. This would be an incentive class. In order to enjoy the cooking class they would have to continue to progress in their literacy program. We have recently learned that the literacy program in the city of Praia has also been offering incentive courses in cooking and esthetics and beauty.

This cooking class was not designed as a professional course in cooking that would result in a certification. They refer to it as a capacitation class. Even so, cooking as an avocation has a lot of appeal, especially when you have highly motivated and skilled instructors who give their students lots of room to contribute in the planning and to try their own ideas out.
We proposed the project to fund the equipment (stove, frig, storage cabinet, pots and pans, dishes and cups) and the first year of the class (with ingredients, teacher salaries, coordinator costs, copies and teaching materials, etc.) late in October last year. It was approved and we began right away setting things up.
They had selected an elementary school near the city prison. It was a central location, but had a history of vandalism. Our first phase was to improve the security of the areas designated for keeping the equipment and supplies to prevent theft.

Next we purchased the basic equipment and ordered the storage cabinet built. We had fun buying all the mixing and cooking equipment and dishes with the instructors, and delivering it to the school.
In early January the course was ready to begin. We attended the opening session to meet some of the students selected for the course and explain our hopes for the course. We didn’t get any photos of that session, but remember how quiet and reserved the class members were. None seemed inclined to even speak with these American strangers who didn’t really speak their language. Before the evening was over we opened a conversation with one of the more outgoing students, Telma, and were fascinated with her life story.

From that beginning we continued to follow the course and provide financial backing over the next six months. Each month we met with the instructors and coordinators to evaluate the progress, look at the plan for the coming month, and provide a cash advance for purchase of the cooking ingredients. We came to enjoy those get togethers as our friendship with the group increased.

We also made it a point to visit the Saturday session of the class about once a month. This was their practical session when they cooked. At the beginning they divided up into three groups to learn and make the recipe of the day. The instructors were leading the way using tell, then show, then guide. We took lots of photos as much of what we saw was new to us and we wanted to document the progress of this group.

With time we noticed the students becoming much more confident and independent. We began to interact much more with the students too and they seem much more comfortable with us.


The class was not all women, as this group was quick to point out

We had heard much about a fish delicacy from Portugal called bacalhau. In April we watched with great interest as they took this dried and salted cod fish from Norway, separated the rehydrated fish from the bones and made a very savory dish. We decided this fish could grow on you if you didn’t try to use too much as it is somewhat expensive. We later watched them prepare a wonderful tuna dish that we have since reproduced at home. We really hope we can find a fish in Danville that will work with this recipe.


The course officially ended the end of June. The students pooled some extra effort and some extra funds to make this a very nice event with a focus on a very polished presentation. They worked in teams of two or three to make a dish of their choice. We took advantage of the opportunity to recognize, with the help of the students, the extraordinary efforts of the teaching and coordinating staff. Several students got a little emotional as they expressed their appreciation for these teachers.

The teachers noted that many of the students had progressed well beyond their expectations. Not only were they doing well in their literacy and basic education, they had gained confidence and developed socially from the supportive spirit of the group. They were very pleased with the outcome of the program. We got a good group photo at this final class.

Our class of first class cooks

We were beginning to feel right at home with students and teachers

As a final exam the students and instructors organized a graduation type event in which they showcased the dishes they had learned to prepare throughout the class. They scheduled it for late July during Elizabeth’s visit.

They also showcased their food presentation skills. As a graduation event everyone dressed up in their finest. We started with a program with speakers, including one student selected for the part. Each student received a certificate congratulating them for their new knowledge and skills.
They made a special recognition for us with an original painting of a Cape Verdean woman cooking in the traditional style. The husband of the instructor Maria da Luz is an artist and they had commissioned this piece for this occasion. As the sponsors of this class they took very good care of us during each of our visits with this special honor at the end.

Following the formal part was a feast where selected invited guests enjoyed the full range of dishes mastered throughout the course. It was most impressive to see all their skills come together. They had to feel very accomplished.

A cooking class that turned into a life changing experience for 24 adult students working to learn basic literacy, two teachers who had dreamed of creating just such an experience, and two humanitarian missionaries who felt inspired to help make this possible and will never forget it.