Living in America I never truly appreciated the sanitation criteria establishments are required to meet. Living in a place where you don’t have to question how your meat was prepared, where the water in your cup came from, or if the dishes you are using are really clean it can become easy to forget that in some places these issues exist. Typically I am not a person who is concerned with germs…I often use the 5 seconds rule if I drop a piece of food on the floor. However, I have new found appreciation for the regulations we have set up.
I have recently returned from a trip to Swaziland. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned the water was safe to drink. Also, there was always a nearby KFC to grab a bite to eat. However, out of these city comforts and into the more rural areas where many of Give Hope, Fight Poverty’s orphans live these delights are no longer available.
I realized the seriousness of sanitation as I helped some of the ladies prepare a meal for about 60 people. We chopped vegetables that we had washed in the same bucket of water-it was black with dirt when we were done. We cooked chicken underneath the hot sun in huge black cauldrons on open fires. While the vegetables waited to be placed in an available cauldron they sat in bowls under the shade of a tree for over an hour. The young boys kept us supplied with water as they wheel barrowed water to us in the field- I hoped that the water was from a pipe source that had been through the proper sanitation.
Soap is a scarcity but the ladies took every precaution available. We made sure all visible dirt was off the vegetables, we rinsed out the bowls before putting food in them, the young boys brought us water, and we scrubbed the table and scraped off the dried paper from the surface.
In the end we all ate the food and nobody became ill. In fact, the food was delicious and after all the preparation I took seconds! But I am thankful that we have the Sanitarians from the Health Department to make sure that we have rules in place for those who handle our food to follow. The last thing anyone would want to have to worry about would be wondering if the food and water they were eating was going to make them ill. I'm sure glad I don't have this worry. In fact, next week at EAA I can eat the pulled pork sandwhich with ease knowing our sanitatarians inspect the outdooor festivals in the area.
