How to Make Burkina Tomato Sauce

    Burkina Tomato Sauce

by Lemie (a RW 7 student)

Cooking for pleasure or other objectives is a common thing almost everywhere even if the way it is done, the frequency and the tools are different from one culture to another. Tomato sauce is an international dish, but it is very different everywhere. The tomato sauce in Burkina Faso is very easy to cook and is delicious. To learn how to cook our sauce, just follow these easy steps.

Gathering the ingredients and the tools is the first step, and one of the most important. Fresh vegetables give a different taste to what is being cooked. Juicy tomatoes, red onions that are not sweet, green pepper and zucchini are what you need for this sauce. The spices are garlic, parsley, black-grounded pepper, bouillon, salt and any kind of meat. Besides the vegetables, the pot you will use must be deep and have a cover. Use a wood ladle, which is good for crushing the vegetables.

  Once you have everything gathered, it is time to start the second step, which is cooking. All the vegetables must be cut in small pieces. Your meat cooking time will differ depending on what kind you have. Beef and lamb will take two times more than chicken. To have delicious meat, cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot with a half-cup of water, garlic, black pepper, salt and cover it. Put your burner on medium. While the meat is cooking, put another pot on burner; add half a cup of oil and fry the onions for a minute. Gradually add the green pepper, the zucchini, the tomatoes, and stir to make sure it doesn’t burn. Cover for five minutes, stir again and cover it. When there is no more water in the meat, add half a cup of oil and fry it until it is crispy. Go back to the sauce and add two cups of water stir and add your spices (garlic, black pepper, bouillon and salt), season it, as you like. Let it cook on a medium temperature for fifteen minutes, then on low for ten minutes. If your sauce is too sour, you can add some potash*.

The delicious sauce you cooked must be accompanied by something, and that is our third step. The sauce’s creaminess is not the same for every accompaniment. With rice, it won’t be as thick as with pastas or boiled potatoes. In Burkina Faso, we serve it hot because you can feel the deliciousness better. For those who like hot spices, fresh red chili will incredibly enhance the taste, and you will love it for sure. Just put one chili while the sauce is boiling and let it cook for five minutes.

 It is easy to cook the tomato sauce from Burkina Faso only by properly following the steps to do it. The ingredients are easy to find and cook. Almost every dish in Burkina has these basic vegetables: onions, tomatoes, and green pepper.

                                 Ingredients for Four Servings

•  ½ pound of meat
• 4 juicy tomatoes
• 2 medium onions
•  1medium green pepper
•  2 small zucchini
• Garlic, parsley, ground black pepper, salt, bouillon
•  1 cup of oil    

   
*POTASH is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.  The name derives from “pot ash”, which refers to plant ashes soaked in water in a pot

How to Play Basketball

How to Play Basketball

 by Kazu (a RW 7 student)

     What is one of the most famous sports in the US? Generally, basketball is the famous sport in the US because it is such an exciting sport. Usually, basketball is a sport, which has a lot of scoring, so we need focus on the game. Otherwise, we cannot keep up with the game. Anyway, it is easy to learn how to play basketball. If you learn how to play basketball, you are going to love basketball. Even if you do not like basketball now, I am going to tell you how to play basketball. There are three easy steps to learn how to play basketball: to love basketball, to practice hard, and to watch many good plays.

     First of all, loving basketball is the most important thing because if I was not interested in basketball, I would not be good at playing basketball definitely. However, you are going to think, “ How can I love basketball?” That answer is to find a great player who is most interesting to you. If you find him, he will make you love playing basketball.

     Second, practicing hard is the easiest thing, but it is also the hardest thing. It sets apart whether you are going to be a good at to play basketball or not; it is the most important thing. If you did not practice, you would not learn how to play basketball absolutely. For example, there is Kobe Bryant in the NBA. He is one of the best player in the NBA, Also, it was said that nobody practice hard more than him. As you can see, even if someone is the superstar of NBA, they must practice hard, so we need even more practice!

     Next, watching many good plays is a kind of interesting thing as basketball player because basketball is fancy sport. Every body wants to show a lot of own skills! When I was child, my father played basketball. Then I thought that I want to play like my father; my first superstar is m father, so I started playing basketball. No matter who someone is, someone makes you impressed sometimes. That feeling is good for how to play basketball. When you watch a good play, you will think, “ I want to imitate that play. Then you are going to practice hard. It creates a virtuous cycle.

     As a result, how to play basketball is not easy stuff, but once you are addicted to playing basketball, you are going to be interested in all basketball things just like me! Also, the basketball playing population is increasing, so you can talk with friends about basketball. I hope basketball is more majorly popular all over the world!

How to Play Basketball and be Good at It

How to Play Basketball and be Good at It 

by Cuauhtemoc (a RW7 student)

  Many people in the world like to play or watch basketball for those people who like to learn how to play basketball here are three easy steps to fallow in order to learn how to play basketball and be good it. First you should practice, eat good nutrition and rest well.  

  First of all, in order to learn how to play basketball, you should practice, for example, a least one hour everyday five days a week because the more you practice the more you are going to control the ball. Also, you should run a least for 30 or 40 minutes every day that will help you to have a better condition, for example, having a good condition is really important for those who want to learn how to play basketball. In addition, practice will give you more ability and make you move fast day after day with the ball. Therefore, I think practice is really important in order to learn and become a good player.   

  Second, not only practicing is important, something that is more important is to eat good nutrition in order to learn how to play basketball. For example, eating healthy food will helps you to keep strong and healthy, what kind of food should you eat?  For example, vegetables, meat, rice, fruit, milk, juice and lot of water will help you to keep you in shape, be in shape is important because you can move fast while you are playing. Also, eating whole grain is a good part of good nutrition, because the whole grain will makes your muscles stronger and healthier. Also, drinking protein before a game is really important because that will keep you with energy all game. Therefore, I think nutrition is really important.  

  Finally, not only nutrition is important something that is most important is resting well; for example, resting good is really important too because resting good will give you more energy the next day, to learn how to play basketball.  Also, after a game taking a shower and then read a book that will help you to relax your mind and body. In addition, listening music is another good thing to help you to relax your mind and body. For example, reading a book is a good thing because that will help you to relax your mind and body and you will have a better night of sleep.  Therefore I think resting is one of the most important parts in order to become a good player is resting well. 

  In conclusion, if you want to learn how to play basketball and be good it, you should fallow this easy steps. First you should practice, eat good nutrition and resting good. And this is for people who might want to learn how to play basketball; you should fallow all of these easy steps in order to become a good player.

                                               

How to Make Chinese Mooncakes

How to Make Mooncakes

by Brenda (a RW 7 Student)

      Mooncakes are very traditional Chinese dessert made of flour, lard, water, salted duck yolks, lotus seed paste or nuts. It’s named by its shape, a full-moon shape, and we eat it during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are layered, flaky texture, crispy desserts like the French croissants. The process of making a mooncake is similar to a croissant as well. Both of them need to be rolled and folded several times in succession. Last Sunday was our Mid-Autumn Festival, the most important Festival in China except for the Spring Festival, similar to yours Thanksgiving for Americans, I made lots of mooncakes for my church and neighbors. I changed the ingredients, so it’s more healthy, light and delicious than before. I will show you how to make mooncakes from scratch in four steps.

     The first step is to make the filling you like. My choice is lima bean mixed with cranberry sauce. It’s not easy to buy the lotus seed paste, so I improvise with lima beans instead of using lotus seed paste. Lima beans have a mild flavor, and you can add any other flavors into it as you like. Firstly, I soak the lima beans in water for 2-3 hours. Then I peel all the beans by hand. The beans become easier to peel after soaked. Afterwards, boil the peeled-beans with a little bit water in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. Lastly, after the beans are done, I mash them with a spoon and mixed the paste with fried-flour (fry the flour in a clean pan with soft fire until it becomes light yellow), sugar and cranberry sauce.

     After the filling is ready, I can get started to prepare the dough. I need two kinds of doughs, one is watery, and the other one is oily. For the watery dough I need:

   1 cup of all-purpose flour

   ½ cup of hot water

   2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

     For the oily dough I need:

   1 cup of all-purpose flour

   ½ cup of vegetable oil.

     Mix these two doughs separately, then cover with a wet kitchen towel for 15 minutes.

     The third step is important. It’s vital to decide if your mooncake is crispy and layered. Divide the two large doughs into 12 small round dough balls equally.

After that, roll out one watery dough into a thin circle, wrap the oily dough ball inside. Then roll it out into another thin circle, then gather piece together and roll it out again. Repeat these steps on the mixed dough 4-5 times until it is a dough ball eventually. After one ball is done, I work on the other doughs by the same technique. Lastly, cover these combined balls with wet kitchen towels for 15 minutes. While they moisten, divide the fillings into 12 small balls.

     After 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll out a dough ball into a large thin circle, then wrap the filling inside and put it on a cookie sheet, pressing it with your palm into a round shape like the full moon. Work on the other doughs and fillings. I brush egg yolk and sprinkle sesame seeds on the top of them, making them more attractive. Eventually, put the cookie sheet into the 400°F oven for 20 minutes.

     Mooncakes are not just defined as a festival food anymore. They have become more and more popular on the daily table. You can use any fillings you like, even using bananas. I prefer to use lima beans because they are easy to mash with spoon after boiled, no blender needed! Lima beans have a light flavor so that you can add your own flavor! For example, if you’d like to make a chocolate filling, add chocolate powder to it, that’s it!

     Making mooncakes is not as difficult as you thought. Try it and the most important thing you need to remember is to roll and fold the dough several times!

How to Quit Smoking

 How to Quit Smoking

by Ibrahim (a RW 7 student)

 

        There is a negative habit that has spread in the modern era. This habit is considered the top cause of death in many countries. This habit is smoking. Smoking is harmful for the body, and causes many diseases, such as cancer, lung disease, and diseases related to the heart and blood vessels. In addition, this habit is very costly, and it has a bad smell. Even though I am not a smoker, its harms affect me by the negative smoking, especially because I came from a third world country where people smoke in public buildings, buses, and cafes. Sometimes my parents suspect that I smoke because of my clothes' smell. Many smokers want to quit, but they often feel it is hard to stop smoking. However, these are some methods that may help you stop smoking.

        The first step is to make a decision to stop smoking. Read about harms of smoking and how it makes your life shorter. In addition, notice that its effects are not only limited to the smokers, but also the people around them, especially their families. Even if you made unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking in the past, try not to look at them as failures, but rather as learning experiences

        The second step is to have a strategy for quitting: see how many cigarettes you smoke in a day, start cutting down on the number of cigarettes that you smoke, and choose a date that you are going to stop smoking by. Then gradually limit your smoking until the deadline. Furthermore, switching the brand of cigarette that you used to smoke with another that you find distasteful may help you smoke less. Also there are some medicines such as Nicorette gum that can help you quit smoking.

         

       The third step is to replace this habit with other useful habits. Have more outdoor activities such as riding a bike, playing a sport, going on trips to fill up your free hour in useful activities. Chewing gum can replace the missed cigarette. Change you smoking friends with others who don’t smoke, which will encourage you to quit smoking.

        Smoking is a bad habit that causes a slow suicide. It’s not easy to quit smoking. However, it is not impossible. It needs a decision to quit, a strategy to follow, and replacing that bad habit. This will be hard in the beginning, but its benefits are worth.

How to Teach Reading Successfully

 How to achieve a successful teaching of reading in Romanized Languages

by Manuel (a RW 7 Student)

Reading is one of the most important processes that human beings have

developed along their history. The importance of this process is related to all those

simple and daily activities in which reading is involved. For instance, when a person

wants to make a delicious recipe, he or she should have previously developed some

readings skills such as reading comprehension to understand the steps and

procedures to get successfully that recipe. Another example that shows the

relevance of reading in the modern world is when someone buys a medicine at the

pharmacy that should be taken according to the written instructions that the

container has. In this case, if the person who bought the medicine does not know to

read, she or he would be at risk to get serious health problems or eventually death.

These two simple examples show clearly that those who know how to read have

many more advantages than those who have not acquired the basic skills to

decipher written information. Therefore, many countries around the world have

spent large sums of money to improve the reading teaching in schools because they

believe that reading is the key factor to be successful in the academic aspect as in

daily life. Countries such as the United States, Spain and Chile are some examples of

governments who have spent a lot of economic resources to research what

strategies are the most adequate to teach children to read. Researchers from all over

the world who have devoted a long time researching this topic have demonstrated

and agreed that teaching reading should be developed in accordance to three

fundamental steps that can not be forgotten by who is teaching to read.

The first step to teach to read is the teacher or the person who is teaching

 should assess the child’s phonological awareness level because according to

researchers this is a key factor to learning to read. Phonological awareness is a

phonological skill that permits people to know that words are comprised of letters

and syllables that have different sounds and each one of them represents a

distinctive sound. Thus, if a child has not developed a proper level in the skills

associated with phonological awareness, the student could have a lot of difficulties

to achieve this learning. After the teacher has already assessed this aspect, he or she

would know what phonological awareness level the child has. If the child has

achieved a good performance in the assessment, the teacher could pass them to

following stage. However, if the obtained results from the assessment are low, the

teacher should generate a program to improve these skills before he or she begins to

teach the letters(vowels and consonants). Usually, these programs consist in a series of

activities that permit children to develop skills such as recognition of initial or end sounds

of words, counting syllables, spelling tasks, etc. Thus, when the teacher sees that the child

is able to face successfully these tasks, he or she could be thinking about the next step

where the child will start to learn the different letters that compound the Romanized

alphabets.

After the child has earned an adequate performance in the tasks related to

phonological awareness, he or she will be ready to face the second step to learn to

read. Here, the teacher teaches each letter and its sound. For example, the teacher

shows the letter /C/ which is written on a card. While at the same time, the teacher

pronounces the sound that represents the letter. Usually, teachers use some

illustrations to support the memorization process of a letter. For example, if the

teacher is teaching the /C/ in Spanish, he or she will use a card where the letter /C/

appears beside the world /CASA/. Obviously, if the teacher is teaching the letter /C/

in English, he or she will use another different illustration, for example a cup. After

the child has memorized the sound and is able to recognize visually the letter, the

teacher will teach the child how to build syllables. At this stage, the teacher joins the

consonant with a vowel. For example, if we use the example of the letter /C/, the

teacher will teach the child that if he joins the /C/ with the vowel /A/, he will build

the syllable /CA/ or if he joins it with the vowel /O/, the child will build the

syllable /CO/. When the child has already built all the possible combinations, he will

be able to create and read words. For example, the child could built simple words

such as /CACO/, /COCO/, /CUCO/, etc. and read them. Despite these words can be

called pseudowords because some of them do not have meaning, the important of

this activity is children can be able recognizing the letter’s sound. This last thing is

very important because if the children recognize the letter and its sound, it means

that the child could read any word. Once the student has achieved mastery to read

syllables and words that contain the letter /C/ the teacher should continue teaching

the next consonant and using the same steps used in the teaching of the letter /C/.

Although the visual and aural recognition of the alphabet is an important skill to

earn good performances in reading, it is not sufficient because whoever wants to be

a successful reader should have a high level of reading comprehension.

The last step to complete the reading teaching process is to develop reading

 comprehension. Reading comprehension is a complex skill in which a series of

processes such as memory, attention and language interact as well as other factors

related to a student’s background. At this step, the teacher should teach some skills

that help students to analyze and synthesize information that has been read. Usually,

at the beginning the analysis and synthesis tasks are done in simple sentences and

later in paragraphs. For example, the teacher ask a child to read a sentence and the

child read it. After that the teacher asks some questions about what the child read

about. These type of questions are related to main characters, facts or opinions that

the student could give about it. After a certain time, the teacher should increase the

tasks complexity by asking the child to read paragraphs and simple readings such as

stories or informative texts. At this stage, the child could answer questions more

complex than those answered at the previous stage. In addition, the teacher could

add tasks such as paraphrasing or discussion questions. Finally, and as has been

noted previously, reading comprehension is considered a complex skill that is very

important for all the students therefore it should be worked on every day in the

school and at home.

Over time, reading has become a fundamental tool and skill to achieve simple

things as for example to read a recipe or a medical prescription, or other more complex as

to earn academic goals. That is one of the reasons why most countries throughout the

world have been spending a lot of economic resources to improve the teaching in the

schools. Therefore, a successful reading teaching process should approach or teach some

skills such as phonological awareness, letters recognition and reading comprehension.

How to be a Successful Lifeguard

How to be a Good Pool Lifeguard

by Maria (a RW 7 student)

Pool lifeguards have a very important job because they are responsible for the safety of all pool users. I worked as pool lifeguard during summers while I was studying at the University. Even though for some people it seems to be easy, being a lifeguard is not sunbathing. A good pool lifeguard has to be trained in rescue, first aid, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but also he/she has to be responsible and professional doing his/her job.

The first step to becoming a good pool lifeguard is to enroll in a training course, and take the lessons very seriously. Qualified instructors teach the candidates theoretical concepts about laws, accident prevention, rescue procedures, first aid, and more, and then they have to develop their skills practicing all these techniques. Outside the pool, they should practice first aid knowledge, like the recovery position for semiconscious or unconscious persons, or CPR for someone who is having breathing problems. At the pool, they have to train aquatic simulations to ensure that they are ready to act in real cases.

After studying and practicing very hard, the candidates have to pass theoretical and practical tests successfully. For example, in order to pass the practical test they must be able to swim, tow a partner, and get him out of the pool in a limited time. Therefore, they need speed and accuracy doing the rescue.

Once they pass the tests, they are ready to work. The most important thing in this step is to be professional. To achieve this goal they should be responsible to prevent accidents and ensure the safety of the pool users. They do not allow disorderly conduct and are not distracted with phone calls or friends.

Being a lifeguard implies big responsibilities to ensure the safety for everyone who goes into the pool. This requires training to manage emergencies successfully, pass specific tests, and be professional.   

How to Build a House

How to Build a House                                                                                                                                        by Marian (a RW 7 Student)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

     Humans like animals need some territory where they can live, and they need some place where they come back every day. People need to forget their everyday worries and meet with members of their family. For this reason, it is one of the best options to have your own house. When my wife and I made the decision to build our own house, we had very little knowledge about building a house, but little by little we recognized that if we followed some basic but very important steps, we would be successful. Therefore, if you make the decision to build our own oasis of home, you should follow these three basic steps.

      The first step is to choose the main characteristics you want in the house. You have to consider how big the house is that you need. Whether you have a big family with the need to have more rooms, a bigger kitchen and living room or you need a house only for an elderly married couple. Another thing that you should decide is what material you will use for the main construction of the house. You can choose wood that works easily and quickly or some other material. My wife and I chose another option which was to use bricks and concrete because we learned that a house built from these types of materials is stronger, and better resists weather disasters. It also saves more energy than a house built from wood. On the other hand, the process of making house from bricks and concrete is more complicated to build and requires more professionals, time and finances. The direction of a house on the yard is important too. Because it is impossible to change the location of an already built house, when we recognized that our patio, where we wanted to enjoy coffee every morning was most of the day in shade and our bedroom would face strong sunshine, we decided to change the direction. For this reason, it is very smart to locate rooms for daily life to the South and orient resting rooms to the North.

      The next step is to manage the process of building the house. you have to find an inspector and a person who has a construction education. You should follow their instructions or advice and gain basic sometimes advanced knowledge about various steps of craftsmanship; for example, production, transport, composition, and working with concrete. Working with wood, basic static rules, and other skills one can learn from books or the Internet. However, you will encounter tasks that will be above your skills. Here is a place for professionals, whom you should hire. These include  an electrician, a plumber, a tiler, a roofer and so on. You can do less demanding work with your friends or family members. With the help of these aforementioned people you might lead this project to completion.

       Finally, choosing the right final design of the interior and exterior of house and landscape is often very hard. You should select furniture, color of walls and accessories according to your needs or feelings, but if you don’t have a sense of design, it is better to use the advice of people who know what’s going on. The Internet can be good source of information too. When my wife and I finished our house, we followed a basic rule which was to use at most three kinds of colors for walls, furniture, tiles, floors and others, and combine them with each other.

       Building a house is a very complex process that requires a lot of endurance, patience, and knowledge, but if we follow these basic tips such as the wise choice a type of the house, listening and abiding instruction from specialist, and following basic style rules, we can be successful. Therefore, if you have energy and a secret dream about your house, don’t waste your time and do it!

How to Learn and Play "Son Jarocho"

How to learn to play and instrument

by Jessica (a RW 7 student) 

One of Mexico's richest artistic expressions, son jarocho encompasses a tradition of music, dance and vocal improvisation that traces its roots to African, Spanish and indigenous influences. Son jarocho music thrives on improvisation, humor and spontaneity and is continuously evolving to reflect the experiences, love, witty sarcasm,  and politics.

One of the fundamental instruments used in son jarocho that provides the rhythmic framework of this music is the jarana jarocha. If you want to learn how to play jarana jarocha, I would recommend the following steps.

First, learn about the instrument.

Jaranas are traditionally made of Spanish cedar or mahogany, and it comes in various sizes which typically have eight strings (three pairs flanked by two singles). The body, neck and headstock of the jarana jarocha can be handcrafted from one piece of wood. The body is long and thin, much thinner than a typical guitar body.

Second, try to learn the culture and traditions of the son jarocho.

Read books and search for information online such as videos, tabs and lyrics. The web is a great medium to find information about son jarocho.

Third, buy your instrument.

You can buy it directly from the Laudrero, Mexican jaranero maker. I recommend it. When you buy an instrument from these people, you are supporting them and their community. Also, this is a great way to buy an original instrument. If you can’t afford to buy a jarana, you can borrow one from a teacher (if available, see below).

Fourth, enroll your self in classes.

Every Sunday from 3-5 pm you will have the opportunity to take the beginner's free classes in the Whitaker Community Center, located at the corner of Jackson and Grant St., in the Whitaker neighborhood. The advanced class is on Thursday from 7-9 pm. 

Fifth, be very patient.

Learning to play a new instrument can be hard. You need a lot of dedication and patience. If you try to practice 30 minutes per day, you will notice a big improvement. My advice for you is, try to sing while you play. This is very, very helpful.

Remember, practice is the best thing you can do while you learn a new instrument. After a few months of practice you will be ready to participate in the Fandangos. Fandangos are at the heart of son jarocho. They're kind of like jam sessions, where musicians gather to play, sing and dance around a wooden platform called a tarima. In the Fandango you will enjoy listening the accompanied instruments such as the requinto jarocho, the exuberant jarocho harp, the quijada (donkey jaw), pandero (wood frame tambourine) and marimbuolo (large bass kalimba). As long as son jarocho musicians learn and hold onto the roots of the music, the tradition will thrive wherever it's played.

Good luck!

How to Adapt in a New Country

How to Adapt in a New Country

by Veronica (A RW 7 student)

          Living in another country is difficult because it means that we need to adapt to new culture, people, language, and so on.

The first step to adapting is when you arrive in your new country. You can feel sadness, loneliness and you may want to return to your country. What you need to do is to investigate ways to get to new places that are exiting to visit. For example, if you go for a walk in a new area of the city you’ll probably find places like museums that you can visit and might even find information of other interesting new places.

The second step is to meet new people so that you will not feel loneliness, especially people who speak the same language as you because this can make it easier to communicate. Plus you can ask them for recommendations about how to adapt, and which activities they do for fun. But, if you don’t find people who speak your same language, you should try to meet other people around you like neighbors or classmates. In my case, I started doing exercise in a Gym (the Oakway Fitness Center), and there I found many exercise classes and new friends that made me feel more relaxed and active at the same time.

 Third, I think that it is very important to learn the language to improve your communication with the native speakers or with people who don’t speak your language. For example, when I first arrived in Eugene I went to find information about schools to study English as a Second Language at Lane Community College. This helped me a lot because right there I found many people who were from my country, but even more importantly I found people who didn’t speak my native language which made me practice the new language, and at the same time I got to know wonderful new things that I had never imagined getting to know.

In spite of the fact that people have difficulties adapting to new culture in new countries, you can find positive things to make adapting easier. In conclusion, I can say that I think adapting to a new country requires patience to live comfortably with the culture, people, and language.