helen weld public health: Pig Roast!

Pig Roast!

As I was waiting this morning for a moto ride to the Kigali airport, where the fast internet and cappuccino will be my Sunday treat, I stood on the road by the house enjoying the lovely choir singing from the church across the road and watching the locals walk by in their Sunday best.

On the wall surrounding our house a great blue heron perched momentarily with a rat in its beak, looking somewhat stunned that it managed to nab such a large treat. A plethora of flying ants after yesterday’s deluge provided the neighborhood children with tasty tidbits. I always love taking the time to soak in a bit of the day-to-day in our Rwandan neighborhood.

Another week has flown by and as usual it has been full. The mamas had a fantastic training with Adam and Lissy from The Cookbook Project thecookbookproject.org. We greeted two new members to the staff; Brett Hawley who will be the communications fellow for the next year and Emma Uwodukunda RN who will be the manager of the health team. It’s exciting to be here helping Gardens for Health with transitions and growth.

On Friday we had an inaugural meal at the new community dining table overlooking the verdant fields. Under the supervision of Mama Isa, a pig was procured, slaughtered, butchered and prepared for the spit, where Conner was the master pig roaster for the day. The beautiful structure and table, built by Rasta and his team this past week were truly christened with bountiful food and abounding community spirit.

As Julie wrote in the invitation with Porky Pig’s visage “It ain’t all gardens, Folks!” It was a memorable night with the table decorated with candles on banana leaves and the benches filled to overflowing with probably 100 people. It will certainly be the first of many amazing meals and celebrations for this extraordinary community in this special location.

Helen