While the kids were home from school on their end-of-year
break, we wanted to let them do some special activities. We tried to devote one
day a week, usually Wednesdays, to a special craft or activity. Several of the
kids have recently been talking about sandwiches for some reason. Several of
them have eaten sandwiches, particularly when guests are here, but sandwiches
are not a typical food item here in Tanzania. So, to satisfy their sandwich
cravings, we decided to let the kids each make their own sandwich.
A few days before the activity, I made sure to buy enough
bread to cover all of the kids. For some reason, though, I didn’t even think
about buying sandwich toppings (in this case, jam and margarine). I didn’t
realize until the day before the activity that I didn’t have any of those items
and that I wouldn’t be able to go out and buy something. So, I started thinking
through what was available to buy in the village. My friend Chelsea was there
at the time, and we actually considered making mango jam. Then, I had a better
idea—peanuts are available in the village. We could make peanut butter. And we
did! I’ve always wanted to make peanut butter, but until then, I just never had.
So crisis averted, the kids were able to make their own
peanut butter sandwiches. Making a sandwich is pretty self-explanatory in a
western culture, but we actually all had to learn to make a sandwich at some
point. We had to teach the kids how to spread the peanut butter, how to cut
their sandwich, and even how to hold their sandwich to eat it properly. All in
all, I think the activity was a hit!
