For the next few weeks, we’ll be seeing the work we do here at Project For Hope from a few different points of view as we follow around the mothers in our program, the children and teachers in the school, the security guards and groundkeepers, the staff in the office and the staff in the kitchen in a 5 part series.

We’ll start today with everyone’s favorite place to be in any culture- around food! With our nutrition program here at PFH we provide a healthy snack and a healthy lunch for all of the families we serve, and God brought us the person just right for that daunting task! Ms. Saida is our full-time cook and has worked with us for the past 2 years now. She is a single mother of 4 children ages 27, 24, 21 and 17 and they all live nearby in the colonial city of Antigua.

Ms. Saida preps carrots for tomorrow’s lunch

On a normal day, Ms. Saida rides the bus from Antigua to arrive at Project For Hope a little after 7 in the morning. She walks in the door and immediately gets to work prepping for the morning snack at 10! She prepares food for all of the children in the school as well as all of the mothers and staff. Each day is a different snack, so if it’s something relatively simple (like Thursday egg sandwiches!) she can start prepping for lunch in the morning. She cleans and chops, shreds and dices pounds of fresh vegetables from the market to add to rice, soups, salads and with meats depending on the menu for the day. Mayra, one of the mothers in our program, helps Ms. Saida in the kitchen with making the tortillas, cleaning dishes and serving the food at lunchtime.

Who could even begin to guess how many carrots these hands have peeled?

These little squashes are called “güicoyitos” and they have a taste similar to zucchini

In the afternoon, Ms. Saida and Mayra clean up from lunch and begin to prep whatever is on the menu for the next day. Ms. Saida takes note of the kitchen inventory and remaining ingredients and puts together the baskets of produce the mothers’ order as part of their weekly shopping lists while waiting for the baker to bring the fresh bread. After he drops it off, she gives each family their daily order of bread as they head home. She finishes her mopping and sweeping with the help of Mayra, and as the day comes to a close and 4:15 rolls around, she heads out to catch her bus home.

Ms. Saida checks the bread order before passing it out to the mothers on their way home

Ms. Saida and Mayra make 150 tortillas every day!

Ms. Saida is always a wonderful smiling face to see during the day and she sure knows her way around the kitchen! She’s a hard worker and we’re grateful for her presence at Project For Hope- and our stomachs are grateful too!

A Day in the Life- Part I