The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
The Manicaland Scout Association (MSA), which boasts of a membership around 1 500 pupils from almost every school in Mutare and surrounding areas, will hold its annual “cook out” competition at a farm in Nyazura next Saturday.
MSA has continued to grow from strength to strength under the leadership of Mr Ernest Mungwari who is the executive chairman for the organisation. The “cook out” is a cooking competition where scouts showcase their cooking skills in an outdoor environment with limited cooking utensils on an open fire.
The scouts will be in teams of three and are asked to prepare a set of dishes for a panel of judges who will be checking the dishes against set-off guidelines. The judges panel usually consists of acclaimed chefs from local hotels. Speaking to the Manica Post, the MSA chairmain Mr Mungwari encouraged the scouts to prepare extensively for the competition.
“We want this event to be as competitive as possible, so I call upon all scouts to prepare thoroughly even at home. Our emphasis in this competition is the preparation of healthy foods and traditional foods. Our children must be health conscious and must also know how to prepare traditional foods. We have great prices for winners which are relevant to the skills gained”
“The school authorities and parents are our strategic partners in scouting and we humbly come to you to help the children prepare for the event and most importantly release them for the event on the day,” he said. The cook out competition equips scouts with special skills of being able to prepare food for self-sustenance under whatever life conditions like in times of natural disasters where general conveniences are destroyed.
This year’s cook out competition also takes a new dimension of healthy food to remain relevant to the current issues obtaining in today’s world. It was noted that it is crucial for children to know how to prepare healthy goods for their own good health.
About a hundred selected scouts are expected to attend the event. According to Mr Mungwari, this is one of the many events on the MSA calendar this year.
