Rochester’s loss was Fullerton’s gain (and mine!) when Rhona Genzel moved here in 2009 from the New York town.
“I got a job at Cal State Fullerton as the director of the American Language Program, overseeing 250 students who came to the United States to learn English so they could get accepted to universities,” she said about what brought her to the community. “That number grew to 500 students when I left in 2014.”
Recently, a mutual friend, Sue Lieberman of Rancho Mission Viejo, invited us to an “African Thank You Supper” for all her friends who had contributed to her favorite nonprofit, Water Wells for Africa.
“I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it is to build a well – $8,000 – and it lasts 20 years,” she told me. “They train the villagers to repair and maintain it and how to sanitize their pots, and they don’t have cholera in the villages anymore that have these wells.
“They sent me a video of my well in the village of Kalosi, Malawi, and the villagers were all dancing and singing and drinking the beautiful, clear water,” she added. “When I saw the plaque with my name on it, I was in tears and thought, I’ve got to do another.”
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, and Rhona said I missed a fabulous buffet of African food.
“It was beautiful to look at and delicious to eat,” she said. “I even asked Sue for two recipes, the Moroccan chicken and Moroccan lamb meatballs.”
Sue’s menu included: cashews from Mozambique and for drinks, peri peri from Mozambique, baobab juice from Ethiopia, and fresh clean water.
“I put out a sign that said, ‘We are pleased to serve you fresh clean water. Please pass it on,’” Sue noted.
The entrees included beef pilau from the Swahili coast, lamb meatballs from Morocco, Moroccan chicken, chakalaka, or vegetable curry, from South Africa, lentil salad from Ethiopia, and couscous from Northwest Africa.
“I made injera bread from Ethiopia, which was easy and turned out…
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