Monday, October 13, 2008

African Children's Choir Lunch Box


This weekend we were honored to act as a host family for some members of the African Children's Choir while they were in town as part of their U.S. tour. The children are ages 7 to 12 and come from several African nations (our guests were from Uganda). Many of the children have lost their parents to AIDS and other diseases, and all of them come from situations of extreme poverty. They sing and perform to raise awareness of the plight of these children of Africa, and to raise money for relief and education.

Each host family was asked to send their children off today with a packed lunch. Hey, I thought, I can do that!

Since we won't be seeing them again I made improvised bento boxes out of disposable plastic containers and used frozen water bottles as ice packs. Into each lunch box went a homemade pita bread filled with my favorite Wild Garden Hummus and six baked falafel balls. Next to the falafel is a bento-style plastic food cup filled with lemon cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, with a squeezy-fish of dressing and a little food pick. Underneath the cup are some baby carrots you can't see.

I quickly ran out of room in the main container, so I used small side containers for the last strawberries of the season, fresh from Saturday's farmer's market. (I was going to pack some baby bananas, too, but they were all eaten up; they are "like the bananas in Uganda", I was told.)

Verdict:
Well, the Choir is on the way to Spokane now, so I won't really know how they like their lunches, but I hope they do. It was so much fun to meet them, to listen to them singing and playing, and to watch their amazing performance this weekend. (I think they burned like 8 million calories up there!) If the choir is coming to your town next, don't miss it.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's funny, their bus passed me in Portland last week!

K said...

How do you make homemade pita bread? Your lunch looks great!

Mara said...

I met these children in my office in Olympia, WA and I have a picture with the boy that pres bush is holding in that picture. They must have stayed with you while they were touring our office :) Can I e-mail you the picture and one of the whole group? my e-mail is maramachulsky@gmail.com

Amey said...

oh that sounds like such a lovely experience.

"like the bananas in uganda" is one of the sweetest things ever.

Anonymous said...

I would totally eat that! You always make the best lunches!

http://nicolebaker.livejournal.com

kall said...

wauu make me hungry nowww
yummy


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Anna said...

What a generous host you are. And I am quite sure they enjoyed the thoughtfulness of the items chosen and packed especially for them.

Christen said...

Where do you get the squeezy fish? I can't seem to find them.

Jennifershmoo said...

I Love Obento has some:

http://shop.iloveobento.com/products/tiny-sauce-bottles-1#

Sheri said...

Oh, I love this choir! We saw them a few years ago, and I think I'll go put on their DVD now. I'm sure they loved their lunches, they were packed with love!
Sheri
www.ILoveObento.com