On soymilk

For someone who, contrary to popular belief here in my village, doesn’t like soymilk, I sure make an awful lot of it. Leading soymilk trainings in my rural village looks a little different than running to the nearest Whole Foods, grabbing a few liters, and explaining the health benefits. We don’t teach mamas to swap the cream in their Starbucks for a bit of soymilk, but do teach them to add it to porridge or milk tea for extra protein.

Making soymilk, first, involves growing the soybeans, or going to the market and purchasing them (50 cents/kilo), soaking them overnight and then grinding them to a paste. Because we use all locally available materials and ingredients, we don’t use a blender – nobody in our catchment area has one, and electricity is unreliable or unavailable. Instead, we use a mortar and pestle. For over an hour, typically, women slam a large wooden pestle into soy beans, grinding them slowly but surely. We then mix the water and soy by hand, use a rice sack as a filter, wringing milk into a huge pot, that is then cooked over an open fire.

The past few months, my counterpart Xaverine and I have been visiting village kitchens throughout our catchment area, teaching mothers, fathers and community health workers how to prepare soy milk. I first suggested we teach our milk mamas – mothers of malnourished children – to make soy milk back in January, and we conducted our initial training the next week at the health center. Since then, we have taught over 500 community members the process of making soy milk by hand in 17 different villages. Countless (because I am too lazy to count and not forced to report on this measure) children have been able to drink soy milk at these trainings and like it a lot more than the moms do. Most moms hate it, but smile and say tell me that it is delicious. Xaverine and our rockstar Community Health Workers have been instrumental in the planning and success of these trainings, and are fun, engaged and encouraging partners.

Village kitchens are monthly meetings with mothers and children under 5, led by Community Health Workers. Women come together to cook a communal meal, which is “balanced”, meaning it contains carbs, protein and vegetables. Women show up and either provide ingredients or a small amount of money. Ingredients vary, but in my community we mainly cook one pot meals, containing: green plantains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, beans, small dried fish, soy powder, spinach and a few other vegetables. Heavy on the starch, but providing children with essential nutrients nonetheless.

When we lead soymilk and hand washing station building trainings, women also provide these materials, creating ownership and investment in the lessons. Every village kitchen is a little bit different. Some are quiet, with a handful of women, and some are absolute mayhem. I was standing by the fire at a recent kitchen, unable to take in everything that was going on, due to complete sensory overload. Firstly, I was alone without Xaverine or Delmas, my health center counterparts. There was a construction worker literally welding security bars of windows together. There were chickens and goats roaming the yard. A one-and-a-half-year-old was banging a machete on rock, completely unsupervised. Another young child found a knife and was sprinting around the compound with it. The moms didn’t seem to care, and honestly, amidst the chaos, everything was somehow under control.

Visiting women where they live and work is important, and really fun, because I usually only see them at the health center when they are coming to receive nutritional services or coming to see a doctor because they are sick. I get to see the mothers of children that have recovered from malnutrition, women in my family planning care group, and those who come monthly for Shishakibondo distribution. I also get to spend time in a more intimate setting with Community Health Workers, getting to know them and see them in action in their communities. Working at village kitchens has been my favorite form of integration, and it is great to get away from the health center. I had a site visit with my Peace Corps supervisor recently, and when he asked Xaverine how I was doing in my role, she told him that I am an Umunyarwandakazi (Rwandan Woman) because I go to the farthest villages on foot.

Because of the frequency of these trainings, my hair, clothes, feet and shoes are constantly covered in soy. I find kernels of soybean in my hair for hours after each training. My clothing and purse reek of smoke, because we cook everything over wood fire. By the end of a week full of trainings, I am physically and mentally exhausted, especially when the moms make me prove that I know how to grind soy by hand. At a recent training, while straining our batch of soy milk, we popped a hole in the rice sack and before I knew it, my face and shirt were covered in milk. I received a chorus of “Poor poor! Sorry sorry! Poor poor!” and a lot of laughs.

Making soymilk is great because it is a hands-on lesson that is engaging and teaches women a new, tangible, affordable skill. Many families in my catchment area grow soy and is a much more affordable option than purchasing milk for families who don’t have a cow. People often ask me: do people actually make this at home? A mom recently brought soymilk that she had made at home to the health center. She showed me and I cried, naturally.

Soymilk: How-to Guide (available in Kinyarwanda, of course)

1. Get your ingredients and materials! One kilo of soy requires 7 liters of water and a little bit of sugar. You will also need a basin (or 2), a large pot, a large wooden spoon, a mortar and pestle, a clean rice sack and cups.

2. Soak soybeans in clean water overnight.

3. Grind the soybeans using mortar and pestle. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the number of kilos of soy and the enthusiasm of the women.

4. Mix soymilk and water in a large basin. 7 liters of water is one small jerry can (1 liters) and about 4 plastic mugs of water.

5. Add water and soy into a rice sack, using this to filter the milk. Squeeze and wring out all the milk, above a large pot.

6. Cook the soymilk, stirring occasionally and keeping an eye on it. It will boil over and almost always does.

7. Add sugar. Women will tell you to add more. Ignore them!

8. Enjoy! Bon appetit! Muryoherwe!