Born out of the expressed need for education in two areas, using new introduced crops, and making family farms more productive, Men Can Cook is the expansion of a successful pilot program.
Discussion groups of women develop topics that they would like to see the men discuss, and these topics are brought to the men’s groups by a skilled Gender Specialist facilitator. In separate groups, the men and women explore ways in which society sets the roles and expectations for each.
Hard questions are wrestled with for weeks such as bride price, income from the sale of cattle, and who controls the cell phone. How can we change from viewing the wife as an asset like a plow or a cow to be used at the whim of the husband, to a partner who can help a couple build a better relationship, family, and economic future together?
For the men’s cooking component SCORE used the local Home Economics teacher to start training and then invited wives and daughters to come and teach their husbands how to cook and to continue teaching in the home.
These are times of laughter as men begin to understand how much hard work and skill it takes to cook the traditional sadza, (thick corn porridge) and make the vegetable or meat sauce that goes with it.
Although the testing project will not be finished until the end of 2022, early results are encouraging, and the program has received positive feedback from men and women in the groups.
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