Meet the Incredible Cook: Danielle Andriaharilala

Welcome to the most delicious food in Toamasina, available exclusively at the Hospital Out Patient Extension (HOPE Center), prepared and served by an incredible team of eleven cooks lead by Danielle Andriaharilala.

With a patient and caregiver population over two hundred, along with the OBF Clinic and the Dental Team, Danielle and her crew produce over 3,000 meals in a week, and that is just lunch and dinner!

Over this past summer the existing kitchen was expanded to accommodate a new freezer and provide more working space. Also, a few months into the field service, an additional sheltered area was built for the added coal buring stoves that are used to cook all the food.

So approximately how much rice does it take to serve over 3,000 meals in one week? Remember, this is Madagascar. Danielle cooks 1 ton of rice every week along with fresh vegetables, Zebu, fish, pork, chicken and a wide variety of the local seafood!

Danielle has been a cook for 25 years. Before the arrival of Mercy Ships, Danielle catered weddings and sold food to shops and bakeries.

Thank you Danielle and team for your dedicated service to the guests, crew and day crew of the HOPE Center. You have played a vital role in the healthy recovery of our patients and have done so with excellence, joy and humility.

Written by: Martha Rodriguez, HOPE Center Manager

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