Posts by The Pink Whisk:
Some Lovely Things Too….
February 18th, 2012Visiting Rwanda and sharing my story with you has been an unbelievable experience. I have told you the key points, the things that have affected me most and the parts that I believed everyone should know.
I have come away, having learnt so much more.
I will never look at one of ‘those’ pictures again in the same way. I will instead see the families and the people behind those pictures and the difference that our support can make.
Rwanda is a beautiful vibrant place. Appearances are deceptive and if you look a little further then things can be very different, the same could be said in a lot of places – including in the UK.
I have been heartened by the work that goes on around the world by organisations such as Save the Children and the many many others that work to make a difference.
Here are some of the lovely things I experienced on my trip.
Meeting the people – Talking to all sorts of folks, although they want to tell you their own stories they also wanted me to tell them about where I come from. They were extremely keen to see photos of my boys (and husband!) One lady asked me if Fin was still breastfed (even though they knew he was eight!) their learnings of good nutrition for children are certainly hitting home.
They want to show you what they have grown in their gardens, the skills that they have, how they make their own soya milk, introduce you to their families and to treat you to renditions of songs and dancing despite the fact that they are struggling in so many other ways.
The children are happy and playful with the cheeky traits of my own boys. They shared their games with me, wanting me to play too. Fun is found in a wheel and stick (they laughed because I was so rubbish!), in a game of ‘marbles’ with pods from a tree.
They’ll share an empty bottle for games of catch and football and love having a turn with the camera too, just like our own children.
I am trying very hard to bite my tongue now I’m back home with my boys not to use the ‘If you were a child in Rwanda….’ line it’s not a comparison you can make.
We travelled quite some distance on the trip and children will wait at the sides of the road to wave at passers by. Something I was a little uncomfortable with to begin with, I felt like I was acting as Lady of the Manor by waving at the little ones but they desperately want the chance to say hello and the excitement on their faces soon made me wave back like a loon!
The simplicity of Rwanda has lots we could learn from. Plastic and non-biodegradable bags are illegal, everywhere is clean and tidy you’d be hard pushed to find any rubbish, things are reused and new inventive uses are found. Community spirit is the highest I’ve ever come across.
Despite the harrowing stories I learnt not to feel embarrassed or guilty by the privileges I have in my life, I realised that things are just different. Trying to change the lives of these people through awareness and support is much more important.
Thank you all for letting me share my experiences with you, a week borrowed from the blog so that I can try and change the lives of the people I met, even if it’s in a small teeny tiny way. I believe it was a worthwhile swop for the recipes and baking that I normally share with you.
So for now it’s back to just that very thing….. recipes inspired by delicious Rwandan ingredients and experiences. We’re lucky to have easy access to these products and that’s not something we should feel guilty for as long as we’re willing to make a difference in our own way.
Ruth x
Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire
Projects to Make a Difference
February 18th, 2012I’ve also seen first hand how Save the Children projects are already helping to turn things around.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from the trip it’s that the people of Rwanda want to change things, they just need to be shown how. Key to achieving it is education. Once families are taught what sorts of foods are best to feed their children and once they know the best way to grow their own then things will start to change.
Kitchen Garden projects are making such a difference.
The President of the group I visited, Vestine, donated her land to the project. In a space of 35 x 15m members of surrounding villages are taught to grow their own crops; carrots, cabbage, onion, sweet potato, beetroot and green leaves.
All aspects of growing are taught including different models which can be used in the differing spaces that each person has at home. Read the rest of this entry “
The Boy Who Broke My Heart
February 15th, 2012I have held back from sharing this story for a couple of days, I haven’t been ready to tell it until now.
Meet Nsengiyumva he is 3 years old.
When I arrived on the children’s ward at the Butaro District Hospital it was medicine time for Nsengiyumva, he didn’t want to have it, he was refusing to swallow. Read the rest of this entry “
The Hidden Hunger
February 15th, 2012Help us create a digital storm
on Wednesday 15th February 2012
Thanks to the help of tireless supporters, 2011 saw Save the Children make breakthroughs that will change the lives of millions of children.
This year the focus is on tackling the hidden crisis of global childhood malnutrition and hunger. 300 children die every hour simply because they don’t have the right food to eat, which in a world with enough food for everyone is unacceptable. You’ve read about it here, you’re seeing what I’ve seen first hand in Rwanda.
TPW Save the Children Recipe Challenge
February 14th, 2012Here’s a way for you all to get involved in the No Child Born to Die push to end the hidden hunger…
Time for The Pink Whisk Challenge…and this one is dedicated to Save the Children and the Hidden Hunger campaign. It’s a great way for us to help spread the word.
I would love for you to donate a recipe. The theme for the challenge is ‘Family Favourites’, recipes you enjoy making and that you love to share, there’s nothing more to it than that – it doesn’t even have to be baking (I hope you realise how much that hurt me to write!)
All recipes gathered for the challenge will be collated and published in a Save the Children e-book which will be sold to raise awareness and funds for the campaign. Read the rest of this entry “
Community Health Workers
February 14th, 2012Based at the Burare District Health Centre community health workers walk out across the countryside to visit families with children that have been identified by the clinic as malnourished. They provide them with all important supplementation and support. We went with them to meet two ladies whose children both suffer severely in different ways from malnutrition.
At the Community Health Centre
February 13th, 2012Meeting Mums and Children
Today has been a super busy day taking in the work of Save the Children projects.
First up was a visit to the newly built health centre it offers a maternity unit, childrens clinic and a hospitalisation wing.
This is a fantastic treatment centre and a real asset to the community – take a look at the old centre, it has tarpaulin sides. Can you imagine your newborn baby staying here? Read the rest of this entry “
Rwanda with Save the Children
February 12th, 2012Arrived safely in Rwanda with the team. I’m going to admit I’m a bit shell shocked – travelling so far on my own is in itself a big milestone for me let alone suddenly finding myself immersed in an African city. Based in the capital of Kigali we’ve spent the day doing some country briefings and have learnt some shocking stats gathered for the Life Free From Hunger campaign.
Great improvements in Rwanda have been made in child mortality with the introduction of successful childhood vaccination programmes and increasing numbers of children sleeping under mosquito nets and is really great news to hear. Sadly though nearly 50% of Rwandan kids are still suffering from chronic malnutrition – the hidden hunger. It’s clearly something that needs changing.
This afternoon, we visited the bustling Kimronko market – the range of produce on offer is immense – beans, potatoes, fresh peas, aubergines, tomatoes, pineapples, bananas, peppers, chilli and herbs, the list goes on!
Naturally the people here are rather dubious of cameras – hence the lack of photos I have to share with you from today, but they’re all very curious and friendly – especially the younger men and women working in the market and the calls of ‘Wazungu’ (translated as ‘white man’) followed me around like an echo!
There are stalls selling all manner of flours; Maize, Ground Nut, Sorghum the most popular is Cassava which is a major staple. Cassava roots are dried and then ground into flour. Despite them being high in carbohydrates they come nowhere near providing the levels of fat and minerals that we get from wheat flour. Wheat flour is fairly uncommon but is available and is used to make all sorts of cakes and breads, these cater more for the wealthy inhabitants and of course for the tourist market.
I spotted these brioche type breads shaped as turtles! Creative baking with a price tag of only 600 Rwandan Francs which equates to around 70 pence.
The lady selling Cassava flour invited me to do a bit of sifting with her – I’m not sure why my technique seems so funny!
So I know you’ll be asking yourself why are children malnourished when food is plentiful? The poorest of families just can’t access the nutritious goods available here, soaring food prices of the Rwandan staples maize, vegetables, meat and cassava flour have put paid to that. A lot of the produce in the market is homegrown and must be sold for money to buy other things rather than to feed their families.
Despite what you may imagine, Rwanda is lush and green with very fertile land – perfect for growing. It’s a densely populated country and for many families growing their own is not an option – they simply don’t have the space. Everywhere you look the hillsides are very heavily cultivated with every inch used – right up to the tops of the steepest inclines.
I’ll soon be able to share with you the steps being taken to put an end to the hidden hunger with visits planned for tomorrow to a STC health care centre, a government hospital treating malnutrition and visiting the families affected.
Most of all though these children need you to support the campaign. Help us to urge David Cameron to lead a big push in ending hunger by naming a day when he’ll host a global hunger summit.
Please pledge your support here – Save the Children and name your own day when you’ll do something to help the campaign.
This can be anything that takes your fancy – on your day tweet about it, share the campaign on your facebook status, blog about the campaign and share it with your readers, bake a cake and take into work to share with your colleagues anything you can think of.
Talking about the campaign and spreading the word is all it’s going to take and I know we can do it if we all work together.
More tomorrow,
Ruth x
Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire
Valentines Chocolate Hearts
February 7th, 2012(and a flaming strawberry!)
A Valentines treat that’s definitely got some wow factor!
There’s only one thing Mr C. loves more than cake and that’s ice cream so I’ve rustled up these Chocolate Valentines hearts especially. The cake and icecream is simple to do, the flaming strawberry bit is a bit faffy so think about having a practice ‘flaming strawberry’ run in advance. There’s lots of tips for this bit at the end of the post. I am sure you will appreciate that I got myself well and truly sozzled for you folks on ‘Ginberries’ in the name of research for this idea!
You will need: Read the rest of this entry “
A Life Free From Hunger…
February 6th, 2012I know that is what we all deserve.
and so I am proud to announce that I am supporting Save the Children in the second part of their No Child Born to Die campaign which aims to stop the millions of childhood deaths which occur from easily preventable diseases throughout the world. The focus is on the ‘hidden hunger crisis’ – tackling childhood malnutrition which is responsible for a third of deaths in children under the age of five.
This Saturday I will be travelling to Rwanda with Jay Rayner, the Observer’s restaurant reviewer and the food presenter for the One Show, and a team to visit Save the Children projects on a week long trip. We’ll be meeting Rwandan families and will see first-hand the effects and treatment of malnutrition, the hidden hunger.
