Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Sound Kitchen. You can catch the programme on-the-air every Saturday, at 4:52, 6:22, and 7:52 universal time. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you have grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so tune in every Saturday!

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Hot news! The RFI Listeners' Club is going strong! As a member of the RFI Listeners' Club, you’ll receive extra goodies when you win a quiz – so join today! All you have to do to become a member of the RFI Listeners Club is to send us two identity photographs, your full name, your postal mailing address and if you have one, your email address.

Your official RFI Listeners Club membership card and number will be sent to you by my good colleague Sébastien Bonijol in the Listener Relations department. Every time you enter a quiz, include your membership number - and if you win, you’ll find an extra special present in your mailbox. So don’t put it off – send your photos and mailing address to Sébastien today!

Sébastien Bonijol
RFI – Relations Auditeurs
80, rue Camille Desmoulins
92130, Issy-les-Moulineaux
France

Just look at that beautiful link to the Sound Kitchen Listener’s Cookbook! It actually happened! I’m very happy about it, and I hope you enjoy looking at it – and trying out some recipes. Please feel free to send in any comments you have, and we would love it if you’d send in photos – both of you, and of your completed dish. Don’t hesitate to use the “zoom” tool on countries where there are a lot of forks; that will separate them so you can read the titles easier. Click on the title, and the recipe will appear.

Also, if you are interested in corresponding with other Sound Kitchen listeners, let me know. I’ll figure out a way to get you together …

Today’s question was read on 15 September and was about the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, which had just wrapped up. It was the largest Paralympics ever – over 4,000 athletes from 164 countries competed.

By the way, did you know that the British village of Stoke Mandeville is the “spiritual birthplace” of the Paralympic movement? The Stoke Mandeville Games were the first ever organised sporting event for disabled athletes; they were organised for disabled British World War II veterans in 1948 to coincide with the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.

But back to the quiz - my question to you was: which three countries won the most gold, silver and bronze medals in the 14th Summer Paralympic Games?

London Olympic Games 2012

And the answer is: China, with 95 gold medals, 71 silver medals, and 65 bronze medals for a total of 231 medals. Following China was the UK, with 34 gold medals, 43 silver and 43 bronze medals for a total of 120 medals. The third country was Russia, with 36 gold medals, 38 silver medals and 28 bronze medals for a total of 102 medals. Congratulations to the winning athletes – and congratulations to all those who participated. Just getting there is winning, to my mind.

The quiz winners this week are: Mrs Fru Glory from Bamenda, in the North-West Region of Cameroon, a member of the RFI Listeners Club; Mrs Leigh Moore from Bakau, The Gambia, who sent her answer to The Sound Kitchen cellphone in a text message; Miss Almass Khatoon Jiskani from Khairpur Mirs in Pakistan; Sagnik Chowdhury from West Midnapur State in West Bengal, India, and Solomon Fessahazion from Asmara in Eritrea.

Congratulations, winners!

This week’s question is a sporty one. It's about Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the prestigious Tour de France cycling competition. Week before last, the United States Anti-Doping Agency released a report that said Armstrong doped, supplied doping products to teammates and even demanded that some of them dope to help him win. Armstrong denied the allegations until last August when he announced that he would not fight the case and waived his right to a hearing. This week not only did his long-time sponsor drop him but Armstrong himself stepped down as chairman of his cancer foundation. In a statement, Armstrong said that he was withdrawing “to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career …”.

My question to you is two-fold … send in both the name of the major corporation that dropped Armstrong this past week as well as the name of his cancer foundation. That’s two names for this week’s quiz – the company that sponsored Lance Armstrong as a cyclist and the name of Lance Armstrong’s cancer foundation.

Send in your answers by 19 November; the answer and the winners will be announced on the 24 November programme. As always, be sure you send your postal address in with your answer … and be sure and tell me if you are a Mr or a Mrs or a Ms or a Miss – I don’t want to get it wrong!

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby
RFI – The Sound Kitchen
BP 9516
75016 Paris
France

or

By SMS … Now you can send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen cell phone !!!!

Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text.

Remember, it’s not just the quiz which wins you a prize. If your essay goes on the air, you’ll find a package in the mail from the Sound Kitchen. Write in about your community heroes – the people in your community who are quietly working to make the world a better place, in whatever way they can. I am still looking for your “This I Believe” essays, too. Tell us about the principles that guide your life … what you have found to be true from your very own personal experience. Or write in with your most memorable moment, and/or your proudest achievement.

Send your mini book reviews, your musical requests, your secret “guilty” pleasure (mine’s chocolate!), your tricks for remembering things, your favourite quotations and proverbs, descriptions of the local festivals you participate in, your weirdest dream, or just your general all-around thoughts to:

thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Include a phone number, if you can. I’d like to call you and put you on-the-air … and send you a thank-you gift for participating.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

All the best,

Susan