As you drive into the small village of Ardfern (which is half way down the Craignish peninsular in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland) you will find the Crafty Kitchen, it’s on your right, opposite the village pub. Run by Marcin and Barbara Samarow it is well known locally for it’s good food and congenial atmosphere. However it is now also well known in a remote and dusty corner of Africa (more specifically Olng’arua Village, in Isiolo District, Kenya) because next month the school meals at Olng’arua will be purchased with a donation from the Crafty Kitchen’s 21st Birthday Raffle and their ‘book exchange’.
Just inside the door, on your right, as you enter the Crafty Kitchen there is a book shelf brimming with titles as diverse as academic texts on ancient civilizations and the latest airport thriller. The local community and Crafty Kitchen customers are encouraged to bring in used books and make a small donation to exchange them for something else on the book shelf that takes their fancy.
Earlier this year Marcin and Barbara decided that the money raised from the book exchange, as well as the raffle, should go to the Olng’arua School and, rather fittingly, from one kitchen to another. So next month the mud floored, stick walled, grass roofed school kitchen of Olng’arua will be cooking food funded by the Crafty Kitchen in Ardfern.
From everybody at Olng’arua to Marcin, Barbara and all those from Ardfern and elsewhere who bought raffle tickets and donated books to the Crafty Kitchen and we say a big well fed thank you!