International NGO CARE held a cooking competition for male staff as an effective way to socialize society, in particular the men that domestic chores such as cooking are not only done by women but also by the men as well.
This cooking competition was not open to the public, only to staff because according to the Coordinator of the Gender Program at CARE Yasinta Lujinha, educating people to share house chores begins in organizations.
“If we want to educate our people, we have to start by changing the mentality of our own staff within the organization,” said Coordinator Lujinha.
She said many women cannot enjoy opportunities for self-development because they are often busy with domestic work and don’t have time to take part in activities that build their capacity.
Coordinator Lujinha also said these activities were implemented in relation to International Women’s Day celebrated on the 8 March last month as a reflection for all societies to promote that equality in a couple paves the way to happy family life.
The cooking competition tested the cooking ability of three groups: Mane Badinas, Uma Nain and Rai Nain group.
Mane Badinas group won the competition because it focused on cooking meal that were rich in nutritious value.
The National Director for Gender Policy Development at the Secretariat of State for Socio-Economy of Women Policy(SEM) Henrique da Silva is proud of the organization’s initiative to motivate men to do house work.
“This activity seems great to us as we (women and men) have to learn how to work together within the family,” said Director Silva.
The Director suggests the competition needs to be held regularly in the future to show to other people that men can do house chores too, because people often think that house work can only be done by women.
Meanwhile participant Gualter Sagres said the implementation of this program needs to be continuous and involve all people, to motivate men to support women equally to do the house work.
In the future it is important that, “Men are expected to demonstrate their cooking ability, supporting in the preparation of meals at home too, not just through a competition,” she said.
