Getting to Know the Yogurt Mamas

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in Mwanza for over two weeks! Although many things are starting to become familiar and route, there are always many firsts as well: playing my first game of Saturday pick-up ultimate frisbee, shopping for the first time at the chaotic market, attending a bilingual English-Swahili church service.

My classmate, Osama, arrived on June 5th so we are now moving ahead with our work. With the help of a translator, we have already learned a lot about the yogurt kitchen. Here are the highlights: Twelve women, respectfully called the “Yogurt Mamas,” produce probiotic yogurt at a kitchen in Mabatini, about a 25 minute walk from our apartment. With purchased milk, and probiotic culture produced at NIMR (the National Institute of Medical Research) they produce about 50 litres of yogurt daily. Each day about 30 litres are distributed (free of charge) to HIV patients and the remainder is sold to the local community for 1,000 shillings per litre (approx. $1 Canadian). They have also purchased a plot of land outside of the city where they hope to expand the business and keep their own cows. Tomorrow we are going to observe the Yogurt Mamas in action, so pictures of the kitchen will be coming soon!

Yesterday afternoon Osama and I visited with Mama Asha (one of the women that work at the yogurt kitchen) and her family. We received such a warm welcome! Although there were some language challenges, we had great fun with the international language of skipping ropes and bouncy balls! We also experienced our first home-cooked African meal, including tomato salad, fish, and ugali. Ugali is a dough-like African staple that is served hot and eaten with your hands (after you squish it around in your hands like play-doh). They were all laughing at our poor ugali eating skills, but by the end we were getting the hang of it!

Here are a few pictures from our visit with Mama Asha…