(ANS - Cali) - "The kitchen? What can I say ... The kitchen is a joy, in the kitchen we laugh a lot, learn a lot, get to know the people and we discover many things ... The kitchen gives peace and happiness, we forget our problems and focus on the food we are trying to offer to people; and if someone says that what you have prepared is delicious, it gives us great satisfaction." This is what Rosa Inés Naranjo says about the "Food for all" programme at the Don Bosco Training Centre in a report published on Wednesday 8 July in the "El País" newspaper of Cali.

Rosa had made that comment a couple of weeks ago, at noon one day. In the morning she had demonstrated with facts what she then summarized in a few words: the transforming power of the kitchen. It was a meeting organized for people who came from various parts of the America continent to observe closely the "Food for all" programme of the Gases de Occidente Foundation.

The programme has been run since 2008 by chefs Vicky Acosta and Jainer Grisales in collaboration with the Don Bosco Centre.  The main goal is social inclusion. "It is designed for young people of the lower social strata of Cali to train them as kitchen assistants, meeting a gap in the market. It has been possible thanks to the involvement of the private sector, the National Service of Learning, the Governor of Valle del Cauca and the restaurant industry, which has been very generous in supporting it. The programme is funded 100% and has a very low drop-out rate.  So far, 230 young people have been trained," said Melba Pinedo, Director of the Foundation, adding that 80% of the graduates are now working.

Fr Germán Londoño, SDB, Director of the Salesian Centre, says that one of the most beautiful results of the programme is the rapprochement between the two social classes in the city of Cali. "Years ago it was almost impossible to imagine that a boy from Aguablanca could work in a restaurant in Granada. Now it happens every day. What has happened is an act of mutual trust: they trust society and society trusts them. A lot of young people who have gone through this programme have set up their own business and have reformed their lives. If you learn how to cook well, life is good, it elevates the spirit."

In 2008, Rosa Inés Naranjo, then 42 years of age, had lost her job at the laundry of the Seguro Social enterprise.  For a brief moment she felt as if, when she lost her job, she had lost something of her life. Then one day, on her way home, she came across the Don Bosco Centre, and became aware of the cookery programme. She was not thinking of finding a new job, but she was convinced that she could not live without fulfilling her dreams, and cooking was always one of her dreams.

Published 17/07/2015