Waiouru children on rations!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 687, 20 May 1997, Page 1

Waiouru children on rations!

W aiouru Primary School were introduced to the difficulties of food and water shortages when they took part in an Army Museum's education programme last week. The class falls into the area of "social studies and technology" said teacher Rachel Couchman. The children divided into groups and told that the 'supply truck' had been delayed so that they were left with only four ration packs per group and half a Jerry can of water. They had only 30 minutes to prepare and cook their meal. They had to allocate various roles among their group quickly so that they could get on with the cooking. They were provided with Army issue mess tins, cups, canteen, cookers etc and had to decide how best to make use of their rations and time. With a parent to supervise each group, the children lit 'hexies' (hexamethylene tetramine) under their cookers to heat their food and were soon busy oppning

packets and mixing their food. While most combinations were reasonably traditional, one group' s soup recipe included mango cordial as their answer to the problem of water rationing ! "It' s edible and would fill a gap," said Mrs Couchman, whose willingness to taste this concoction went above and beyond the call of duty! Expert assistance and much-wel-comed hot drinks to counter the taste of such 'interesting' combinations were provided for the adults of the group by father and Board of Trustees member Trevor Hennessy. Discussions concentrated on such topics as why cups have handles which fold up and the clever design of mess tins so that they all fit in together. They looked at selected displays to look at what had been rationed, why, by whom and how it was happening. The displays challenged the children' s ability to look beyond the obvious, particularly the paratroopers and the soldier on, horseback in theSouth African Gallery..