hunger season

There is a time of the year in Africa, between the first and second harvests, where the food has run out. It is called “hunger season”. An entire season dedicated to hunger. As a person who has always lived with a luxury of having food aplenty, it is hard to understand that there could be a season for such a time as hunger. Months. Three to six months that happens every year. Some years, those months may multiply if a disaster strikes and the crops from the second season are destroyed. These are months in which you know are coming, but are unable to prepare for. Thousands of people go hungry during this season of hunger.

I am eating local food - rice and beans and once in a while we get steamed spinach and carrots, sometimes a fish from the river. The food here at the guesthouse is in plenty. It lacks in variety; but there has always been food left over. My belly is always full. I sometimes struggle with a guilt of feeling satisfied.

Food security is an ongoing issue all around the world. In the states, we often try to think of ways to conserve the amount of excess we eat or throw out. We debate with each other about what can be done to end this cycle of hunger. What would it mean if we ate less in one country – would the excess reach those who need it most? Or would it be lost in the politics and logistics of the transfer? Who would really benefit? Would these children in Africa, the ones who are malnourished and run aside me shouting “mazugo, mazungo” – would it reach them? Or would it turn into cash inside some big mans pocket? I hate the debate. We can debate all day. Our words do not feed the children. They do not change the reality. Someday, they might. Someday, if solutions are created and agreed upon and carried out, the children may benefit. Today they are hungry.

Here in Mutarara, the hunger season will start mid-October to November, at the same time the rains start. It will continue through the floods. Imagine going hungry and trying to deal with a disaster, saving your family and household assets, on an empty stomach. I don’t know how this is done. I also don’t know where I’ll find my appetite once the hunger is more visible. It is sad that all too often we don’t recognize the need if it is not staring us in the face or lifting a hand in request.

There is a season of hunger here in Africa. But there is hope. There are programs in place providing food aid and livelihood assistance to help prepare for this season; to feed those most vulnerable and without food. I wish I could say it is enough. I wish I could report back from the field that all the starving children are now fed and sleeping happily with full bellies. But I can't do that. I can encourage each of us to look for ways to help - whether by giving financially to an organization that provides relief and assistance or by working in ways to make changes within our own lives and share with others the reality of the world we live in; with hope that one day, a solution may be had to end the season of hunger.