Many times when I get a guest from the village or a house
help, they are normally amazed by the lack of appetite in my children. They are
shocked that people in the City beg
their children to eat and everyday use persuasive words like baby please eat, Toto
eat your foods, junior, sweetie, darling please eat your food then I will buy
that toy or doll for you. It’s a daily struggle until they reach teenage when
they eat without cajoling.
They tell me that children in the village do not wait for a
“whistle” to be blown to inform them to start eating, the moment food is set on
the table and mostly on the floor, within seconds or a few minutes the food is
gone. If the parent does not keep some food for herself then she will have to
prepare more. Compared to the ones in the City they eat more ugali (Kenya staple
meal made from maize flour), the size of ugali one child in the village takes is enought for two people in the City. The adults also have amazing
appetite and can consume a lot of food. So their parents have to work hard in
their farms and other manual jobs to be able to put a big ugali on the table
everyday.
Normally the main meal is dinner, light meals like porridge
with boiled maize, githeri (boiled maize & beans), sweet potato, cassava,
arrow-roots etc... are taken in the morning and lunch time. They also have
fruits and nuts to eat during the day. I was told porridge is an appetizer that
widens the stomach, I still didn’t believe it is the appetizer and ask my relatives
in the village what other appetizers they give their children in the village
but they just laugh. I think villagers consume a lot of food in the evening
after hard work and taking healthy appetizers during the day compared to our
children in the City who consume unhealthy junk during the day.
