When you buy the charcoal, it comes in a bag in large chunks. Then most people spread the charcoal on a cloth on the ground and using "a sharp knife," cut the large chunks into smaller chunks as shown here, so it burns easier.

This is Eric Tukulo showing how to start the charcoal using "plastic" (plastic bags). Eric is a handyman we use a lot for odd jjobs and repairs in the missionaries' apartments. When he found out we had a charcoal cooker, he was very anxious to show us how to use it. The elders talked us into getting a "very good, sturdy" charcoal cooker. Cost us $18. Eric got the charcoal for us and had his wife cut it into small pieces for easier burning. He told us that the "very best" way to start charcoal was to get a sack of sawdust from the furniture "stores", pour gasoline over the sawdust and then pour the sawdust on the charcoal. He said it "easily" starts...Reminded me of starting fires as a boy scout....

It worked! Then you put your pot or frying pan on the charcoal and cook your meal. In America, we call cooking on charcoal a backyard BBQ. In Liberia, this is how most people cook their meals, using charcoal. Eric is putting out the hot coals in a pan of wet sand.