A formidable woman
There are many good caregivers working at PCC and today I would like to put one of them into the spotlight: our Janet.
Janet has worked for PCC since 1998, so for 18 years already! Janet is not only a caregiver, but first and foremost she is the one who has held sway over PCC’s kitchen for 18 years. Each and every day she will devotedly prepare the food for all residents of the Community.
In 1998 there were 20-25 children and about 6 caregivers working in PCC, now there are 93 residents and more than 30 caregivers plus a few other employees, so more than four times as many, a total of over 130 people and still Janet prepares all meals for everyone and every day. A formidable woman!
Janet’s age is a carefully kept secret, we do know that she has a 29-year-old daughter and also 2 grandchildren, who visit her regularly in PCC. Before she came to PCC she made fufu and sold this to her customers “in town” each day.
After her arrival at 1998 she became a caregiver to Cynthia and Alice and later on to Abena and John Adzo and finally to Ayuba and also to Bright, who sadly passed away suddenly a couple of years ago.
She remembers her first years as “cook” in PCC very well, when all the food would be prepared in small cooking pots in her old house. In the course of the years the smoke blackened that house more and more, so she was very happy when a new and separate kitchen was built in 2004 and when she could move into her new and spacious house in 2012.
She was overjoyed and very proud when the new kitchen was built in 2011. About 4.30 AM, early in the morning, she will start at the preparations for the daily breakfast and her work will be finished way after dinner and cleaning, somewhere between 7 en 9PM, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. A formidable woman indeed!
In 1998 there were 20-25 children and about 6 caregivers working in PCC, now there are 93 residents and more than 30 caregivers plus a few other employees, so more than four times as many, a total of over 130 people and still Janet prepares all meals for everyone and every day. A formidable woman!
Janet’s age is a carefully kept secret, we do know that she has a 29-year-old daughter and also 2 grandchildren, who visit her regularly in PCC. Before she came to PCC she made fufu and sold this to her customers “in town” each day.
After her arrival at 1998 she became a caregiver to Cynthia and Alice and later on to Abena and John Adzo and finally to Ayuba and also to Bright, who sadly passed away suddenly a couple of years ago.
She remembers her first years as “cook” in PCC very well, when all the food would be prepared in small cooking pots in her old house. In the course of the years the smoke blackened that house more and more, so she was very happy when a new and separate kitchen was built in 2004 and when she could move into her new and spacious house in 2012.
She was overjoyed and very proud when the new kitchen was built in 2011. About 4.30 AM, early in the morning, she will start at the preparations for the daily breakfast and her work will be finished way after dinner and cleaning, somewhere between 7 en 9PM, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. A formidable woman indeed!
Since a year or so Janet and I, together with some children, have developed a simple morning ritual during our 7 o’clock morning stroll. The children and I will walk to the kitchen and we will call “Goooooooooood morning!” to Janet and Janet in her turn will call “Goooooooooood morning!” back to us. Then we will beg of her what will be for breakfast that morning. The answer will always be received with a big cheer: such a simple form of sheer happiness.
Janet is quite a character. She certainly has a sense of humour and she can laugh long and hard, but when she disagrees with you, she will surely leave you no doubt….! The other caregivers and older children know: it is better not to quarrel with Janet and when she is asking you to do something, you had better do this, because Janet is ….. a formidable woman!
Janet is proud of all improvements with the food: more meat and fish, more often an egg, fufu each week, T-set, more greens, more fruit and sometimes “kose” (a ball made of beans flour) for breakfast. The children love it and Janet is proud of the fact that they look healthy and well.
For 18 years Janet has cooked (she is being assisted by Rose Fabea nowadays and also by Zachariah, John Adzo and other PCC residents) twice or three times a day for an ever increasing group of people. She has prepared more than 15,000 meals (!!), which have been savoured by maybe a 1,000,000 people. This must certainly be a world record!
You must understand now that we are very proud of her: ….. Janet definitely is a formidable woman!