Jolof rice was the first thing I prepared and it was a great success! Everyone was impressed with the New Cooking Bag I had taken home. The second time I used it, I wanted to make plain white rice. I brought 2 cups of water to the boil and added one cup of rice. I did it in the evening so I could eat it very early in the morning, because I would be fasting. I did everything the way I should have, but after an hour of slow cooking the type of rice I had used was still hard and it just needed more water. So I had a problem! I wasn't sure what to do and I had already put out my fire an hour before. Should I light another fire and bring everything to the boil again with extra water? In the spur of the moment I just poured in another cup of cold water, on top of the boiling hot rice in the New Cooking Bag, and then closed it again. It was a tall tale I could tell my housemates when I showed them the next morning, because the rice was lovely and soft and it was still hot! I always tell people this success story at our demonstrations, too.

I called my husband and his friends - who were sitting and talking nearby - to my cooking pot and showed them how I made jolof rice ‘the New Cooking Bag way.’ They were really surprised and I told them they should all get one for their wives. I also made rice with a sauce another time and my sister in law was stupefied. She absolutely wants one before Ramadan starts! It's not just that the food is delicious when you cook it this way, but it also saves so much time! I work till 4.30 PM and I have to walk a long way before I get home. I have three small children and to get them washed and ready for bed, clean the house and cook food at the same time is not an easy task. The other day I made rice for rice balls before I went to work in the morning and all I had to do when I got home was to make the rice into balls. It's a great invention that really makes my life a lot easier.

I tried to prepare yam in the New Cooking Bag and I wanted to show the other families in our compound. They were quite sceptical at first and I couldn't convince them with one meal. Then I made local rice in the morning to eat at night. It was still hot and delicious! They are convinced now and they are trying to save some money so they can get one too!

When I came home with the New Cooking Bag, all my neighbours asked: "What is this? Can this thing cook?" I showed them the instructions with the recipes and I told them about it but they just wouldn't believe me. Then I bought a yam and simply showed them. I was a little scared, to be honest. I had seen demonstrations but I'd never used one myself! What if it didn't work out? But luckily, the New Cooking Bag didn't let me down and I surprised my unbelieving neighbours! They all tasted a piece of cooked yam.
Yesterday, one of my neighbours came back with a friend of hers. She wanted to show her friend the New Cooking Bag and to cook with it. They wouldn't let me cook it for them, because they suspected me of Ju-Ju: magic. Now I ask you! So those two women cooked for themselves in my house, using my New Cooking Bag. They kept wanting to take a look inside half way through, and I had to do my best to stop them. So curious! I put on a DVD to keep them occupied and after one hour the jolof rice was perfect.

The fist time I used the New Cooking Bag I made yam. I boiled it for ten minutes and then put it in New Cooking Bag for an hour! I poured out the thin layer of water that stayed behind in the pan and the yam was delicious! Firm on the outside and just soft enough on the inside. All women in the compound watched closely and they were all surprised and very pleased.
The other day, I prepared my T-Z before going to work in the morning and I didn't eat it until after I came home. It's just so easy! My sister wouldn't believe it, so she took New Cooking Bag home to try for herself. I'll be glad to have it back on Sunday!

I work for New Energy in Tamale and I visited the New Cooking Bag Project with my boss. I was very impressed and I was sure my colleagues would love this, too. So I bought four New Cooking Bags: one for myself and three more that I was sure I could sell. When I got back to New Energy, I bought some rice straight away and gave a demonstration to my colleagues. It was true... everyone loved it! I sold all four New Cooking Bags straight away and I went back to buy five more. I hope I'll get to keep mine this time, but if not, I'll just go back to New Cooking Bag Project!

I obviously had to explain what it was I was carrying on my head as soon as I got home with my New Cooking Bag. I told them about it and showed them the manual and the recipes, but they thought it was a load of nonsense. They had already cooked, so I couldn't try and change their minds right away. I told them I'd show them the next day after work! When I came home the next day, I told the women we would be cooking rice. We used the New Cooking Bag and when they tasted the result, they said: “Hey Rahina, your thing is working!”
The other day, when I came home from work, the women said they wanted to cook yam. I said “okay” and helped them a little, showing them how to do it. And it went perfectly again! One of the women has my New Cooking bag now, she said she'd give me money for it and I should get myself another one because she wanted to keep this one for cooking rice the next day. I showed the manual to our neighbours as well and they have invited me to give them a demonstration!

I used my New Cooking Bag for the first time last night and guess what? I made my rice at 7 PM and put it in the New Cooking Bag because I wanted to have it for breakfast this morning with my family. And guess what? It was perfect this morning at 5 AM and it was still hot. Unbelievable! After ten hours! Everyone in my compound wants to try and get one before the start of Ramadan.

The first time I used the New Cooking Bag I was a quite nervous and I was afraid it wouldn't work. Cooking doesn't go unnoticed in a compound house, so I knew everyone would see it. I still wanted to do it, so I bought rice and called my housemates to come and watch. I did everything exactly as it said in the instructions and told my neighbours they should come back to see in an hour. To be fair, I quickly sneaked a peek an hour later to check if it had gone well, closed the bag again and then showed my housemates the miracle of the New Cooking Bag. They couldn't believe something could cook without a fire and without electricity! The next day, I made rice in the morning and didn't eat it until the evening. It tasted great and it was still perfectly hot. We talked a lot about how the New Cooking Bag would be a great help for Ramadan!

The first time I used my New Cooking Bag I made rice and beans in my compound. My housemates didn't believe my story when I tried to explain it to them when they all came to see what I was doing. They teased me, but I didn't care! When everything was in the New Cooking bag, I gave the dish and the New Cooking Bag to my neighbour and told her to put it in her room and to call me one hour later. If I had put the dish in my own room, she would have accused me of quickly cooking it on a little fire there...
After one hour the woman said it was time and she carried the New Cooking Bag outside, opened it and took out the pan to check the food herself. She was very enthusiastic and called all the women in the compound to come and watch! They gave me an applause and said they were hoping to get their own New Cooking Bags before the start of Ramadan.

When I got my New Cooking Bag, I showed it to three compounds and invited all the women to come to my house. I made Waakye, rice with beans, and everyone was surprised at the result. I heard the women speak amongst themselves about the advantages it would have to them and how they wanted a New Cooking Bag, too. They think the price of 19 Gh.c is a good/normal price and they were going to save money to get one.

The day I would be testing the New Cooking Bag for the first time there were a lot of visitors in our house, so there was a lot of interest. They asked me all sorts of questions, but they wouldn't believe my answers. They looked for the source of heat in the New Cooking Bag and kept wondering how it worked. They kept a close eye on me and when my rice magically turned out fine an hour later they went wild! They have invited me to come to their village to give them a demonstration.

I still live with my parents and have just finished school. My sister and I take turns cooking three days in a row. My father is a teacher so he understood the manual and the recipes very well and read them carefully. He then told my mother exactly what to do: bring 4 cups of water and 2 cups of rice to the boil and let it simmer for two minutes. He also gave her a piece of cloth to put inside the New Cooking Bag, because it said so in the manual. The rice was delicious and my father thought it was such a huge success that he took the New Cooking Bag to our neighbour's house to explain to them how it works. They have already used our NCB and they think it's just super!

My rice and beans was a great hit. My husband was very surprised as well and he said straight away that his friend would be mad about this New Cooking Bag if he saw it, because he loves innovative things. My husband is now telling everyone about the New Cooking Bag! Everyone says they would definitely get one if they had the money!

The day I took the New Cooking Bag home I didn't go straight to my compound but went to my family house first and told everyone the story of the New Cooking Bag. My sister was very enthusiastic and said she wanted to try it straight away. I gave it to her and the next day she told me she had made okra soup with meat, just before she went to work at the hospital. When she came back, everything was perfectly cooked, the okra, the meat... She wouldn't give me my New Cooking Bag back and gave me money in stead to buy another one because she wouldn't let go of this one!

When I came home with the New Cooking Bag I gave it to my sister who was working in her sewing workshop. A kebab seller who works across the road from her was curious and came over to ask her what it was. When my sister explained it was for cooking food, he laughed at her. On Sunday afternoon I saw the kebab seller, and as he had grown curious he asked me to demonstrate. I went to my uncle who sells mopeds and motorbikes next to our house and asked him for 5 Gh.c to buy food and cook for him. My uncle laughed with a sneer and said he wanted his 5 Gh.c back if this bizarre experiment would fail. I promised him. I added 5 Gh.c of my own, bought all the ingredients for jolof rice and showed everyone how it works. When everything was in the cooking bag, I put it in a dish and placed it in my uncle's dusty, messy workshop amidst all kinds of moped parts so everyone could see it. When the hour had gone by, everyone stood around me in the workshop and when my uncle saw the result he threw his arms in the air and ran away screaming and laughing. So funny! I gave him my New Cooking Bag and told him to give it to his wife so she use it for cooking. This morning when I left for work, my uncle laughed and called after me: “Hey Magic Hamdia!”

When I got my New Cooking Bag, I told my housemates what it was that same evening. They thought I was kidding and wouldn't believe me. One woman was cooking and I asked her if she would put her food in the New Cooking Bag, but she refused. Then I bought my own rice and prepared it in the New Cooking Bag because I wanted to show everyone in the compound it really works! When they saw and tasted the result, they all clapped their hands with joy. Some of my neighbours weren't there, so I demonstrated it again later, with the same result.
We had Banku from the New Cooking Bag last night and what was left over was still warm in the morning, so we could have it for breakfast! One of my neighbours bought her own cooking bag now.

The first time I used the New Cooking Bag I prepared Rice & Beans and I invited everyone in my neighbourhood to come over to watch and taste. The beans turned out perfect but the local rice I used turned out a little bit too wet. There are just so many kinds of rice here and they all need different amounts of water... It's a question of just trying it out. So I used the New Cooking Bag again straight away after that because I wanted everyone to see the result really can be perfect. I made Jolof rice which turned out just right. Everyone is convinced now!