Amazing appetite in the Village

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.

World Aids Day

Today is World Aids day meetings are being held in all over the World to mark this day. One would imagine that the spread of the disease is going down after many years of awareness campaigns and the introduction of Anti Retrovirals (ARVs) to control it. However from the look of things the problem is still spreading especially in the villages. Young girls who drop out of School after Primary education end up getting into affairs that lead to pregnancy and HIV infection. In most cases they do not get married to the men who impregnate them, therefore after delivery once they have recovered they get into other affairs and the cycle is repeated. In this way those that get infected spread the disease further. Those that have caring families or care about their life get ARVs from Government Health Centers.

Once they are on ARVs one would think they will stop having affairs with different people before marriage, from those I know they become even worse. They take contraceptives and then continue with life as usual, it is like they are on a spreading mission. The same girls also come to towns/cities for casual jobs, when taking ARVs and eating well they look healthy that one cannot tell they are sick. This healthy look still confuses many, there are people who still have the mentality that those who are HIV positive are thin and look sickly. So when they meet healthy people they do not care to use Condoms with them.

Excess use of Alcohol is also a major factor in the spread of HIV virus, many people when drunk (ignorant or intellectual) do not think wisely and end up having affairs without protection. It is also common for girls to get the virus from rich men who give them everything they want, money and the healthy look of the man blinds them into getting into unprotected affairs. Even the very educated ladies are blinded by wealth and even end up getting married to infected men only to regret later.

I don’t know what language or method that can be used to control the spread of this disease because it seems like the situation is not improving with years going by. I think the organizations concerned should concentrate more in the villages to help the innocent village girls, giving them ARVs only is not enough but they should also be assisted socially and educated.

Current weather in Kenya

It’s a blessing to see heavy rains in Kenya after a long spell of drought. The rains are heavy causing a lot of floods. It’s a bit worrying because of the effects but we cannot afford to complain because it brings hope that there will be a lot of food in the Country. It is a good time for farmers especially those who have planted maize because it needs a lot for rain.

I hope soon prices of food will come down after the harvest because there are areas that planted earlier, some are already harvesting. I remember the last long rains, there was a lot of milk and because of poor infrastructure and storage a lot of milk got spoilt and was poured. I hope this time the Government is prepared for this and those areas that were affected by drought are now being cultivated.