The Diary Game 25/03/ 2023. Cathering Service (Cooking and serving day)

I received a call a two nights back , that we have to meet up on Saturday morning for cathering service where we usually meet, to prepare food for a great number of people of about 400 people who will gather to do a memorial service for a white female missionary that came to Cameroon. I was not sure to make it to work because of the school time table which shows that we have a class on Saturday at noon, and work starts at 8:00am to 6:00pm.

I woke up in the morning and tried to check the school group to see the announcements. I saw a new time table that wasn't even better than the other one. It showed on it that we have lectures on Sunday from morning to evening. I thought of how i could make it to work. I asked and they class deligate told me that since the time table has been changed, it would be effective next week. I prepared my self, wore my work tshirt and went to the park to get a taxi that would drop me in town where i can get another taxi to take to where the cooking will take place. I got to the park and there were many cars but there were very little passengers. The taxis could only kick off when its full because if it goes without full load, they may still settle the check point on their way back. I stood there for a while waiting for the a taxi with some passengers to come and so we can go. After a while we were about three of us in a taxi and we left. The taxi driver carried some people by the road and at some point the car was filled with passengers and some point less filled because he had to drop off some of them at their destinations. Due to traffic, we were in the taxi for about 45 minutes before i I droped at the juction in town and got a bike to were the cooking had to take place.

In the taxi going to work

I reached the place and greeted all the colleagues and assisted to fix some boiled yams that were over cooked, by removing the extra soft parts or parts stained by burns. When i was arranging the pot of yam, one of my class mates in school walked pass behind me and i never knew that he was related to my boss. He graped a knife and i asked him if he remembered me from school, because we sat together during the first semester exams. He laughed and greeted and while we were cleaning the soft parts of the yams we were talking on the adjustments that were made on our time table. When we were done with yams, we were asked to peal boiled plantains, scrabe it and cut in the middle into two.

We prepared many dishes. There was fried fish, fried chicken, fried rice, fried ripe plantains, beans, Irish potatoes and cabbage, okomobong and white yams, fruits and salat. All of the food was put in the flasks and transferred to the memorial hall with chafing dishes, plates,hand napkins and cutlery. The drivers came with the boss cars and we packed all the flask in the boot and went to the hall. When we reached the hall took the food off the cars and we got the tables ready and dished the foods into the chafing dishes and stood behind as the memorial program unfolded.

During the course of the program, the sister of the white missionary who passed unto glory called and it was projected on a white piece of cloth. She wanted to appreciate the people who did the memorial, and to say somethings about her sister. The people in the hall were to noisy and didn't pay alot of attention. Just a few person were concentrated and wanted to hear what the white lady was saying. One had to listen keenly to hear what she meant because she was originally a polish woman from Poland and was not pronouncing English words well, or said it in a way that people would understand.

The white lady who was talking and it was projected

After a while we were asked to be ready so that they can pray for the food and start eating. They forgot to say the order in which people would come to the table. I had to tell one of the organizers of the program to use the microphone to tell person how to come to the table to avoid crowding around the food. After that, we opened the chafing dishes and started serving.

The different dishes that were served.

Every one ate to their fill, and the rest of the food was carried to the ladies house to continue the program at her compound. We gathered all the plates and the flask, plates and chaffing dishes and called the driver to come and carry. The driver came when it was raining, and we parked the things and left. We went to the boss house, packed the things in her yard and it was raining so heavily. We went indoors and ate while waiting for the rains to stop. I ate water mellons, fried plantains and beans with chicken.

After eating and later making noise with colleagues, the rain was drizzling and went outside and started washing the plates. It was getting dark and the rain persisted. We finished washing the things under the rain. I was soaked with water and had to take off my tshirts and put on my polova. I took a car and went to my house.