Kodjo and his brother lived across the unpaved road from me. He said he was 15 years old, and he no longer went to school because he and his brother worked as carpenters to support themselves. When I asked him if he missed learning, he just shrugged and smiled. I saw him almost every day, on my way to and from work.
When we needed shelving units, we asked the brothers to build them—they delivered the shelving units in a couple of days, and we paid the brothers when they were delivered. It was a “win-win” exchange.
One Thursday night after dinner, we were talking and joking around. I told him how I cooked for the volunteers every Wednesday night, and how we shared the chores around the house. I asked him who was cooking at his house that night. “Are you cooking, or it is your brother’s turn to cook?” He laughed and shook his head. I commented that “I know how hard it is to work all day and come home to make dinner. So, is it your turn tonight? What are you making?” Again, he laughed and agreed that it was hard to work and cook.
All of a sudden (maybe it was the Spirit that came through his silly laugh to help me understand) I realized that no one at his house was cooking that night, because there was nothing in the house to eat. Neither he nor his brother would have dinner that night.
As I thought about Kodjo and his brother, I wondered how many others in Togo were asking themselves that night “What’s for dinner?”
Have you ever had the “feeling” that someone you know is wondering “What’s for dinner?” We can answer that question by teaching sustainable farming and animal husbandry practices to local farmers that that we might help feed the poorest of the poor. We hope that you’ll join us.