Time to Change your Diet?

 The islands have been in the midst of another rice shortage. For a long time, the big sacks of cheaper rice haven’t been available. People have been scraping by with buying the more expensive rice brands. But then they got in short supply and the price per kg went to over three times the normal price!! 

One rice shipment arrives!

At the same time, there were stories of rice stores getting wet with all the rains and mold getting into them. Some rumors have even claimed that the cholera epidemic came from bad rice! We challenge this one any chance we get with the real ways people get cholera, but rumors persist. A small shipment of rice arrived and quickly stories started to spread on island social media that the rice was littered with little bits of plastic and that people who ate it were all going to the hospital sick.

It’s hard to know if there is any truth in these stories or not, but the confidence in the government-regulated company that organizes the large shipments of the cheapest rice has plummeted. They are accused of corruption and ineptitude.

Meanwhile, people suffer. Lots of people have talked about going hungry, of their kids begging for food and them not being able to give them anything to satisfy them.

Giving pasta & sardines to hungry neighbor

So, is there no food on island? No, there is food. There is bread. There is pasta. There are tons of sacks of flour for sale at the moment. But islanders aren’t used to filling their stomachs with these things. They make things with flour, but it is not their staple food. I have brought up to many islanders that maybe they should eat other things, but most hem and haw and say that those other things don’t sit well and will give you stomachaches if that is all you eat. Many islanders believe that you haven’t really eaten in a day if you haven’t had rice. Lots of island kids want to eat what they are used to— they want rice!

But a short-term worker just asked me this week, “But they haven’t always eaten rice, have they?” And it is true! Rice is imported. The true ‘poor man’s meal’ of the islands is fish and locally grown starches. I don’t know when rice came to the islands— could have been hundreds of years ago. Our mainland African neighbors don’t eat rice as a staple, they eat a dough-like starch staple called ugali. But neighboring Madagascar eats rice as their staple, so it may have come from there. So we know that eating patterns can change— whether by choice or necessity.

But government policy plays a role in this too.  At some point, the islands found a way to receive subsidized rice from other countries.  This rice was priced so low that it would inevitably become the staple.  Nothing is quite as cheap as rice here for filling the stomach.  What if those subsidies were no longer available?  What if islanders were no longer able to depend on cheap rice?

We don’t necessarily think that this rice shortage is going to cause a complete change in islanders’ diets. There is hope that this shortage will end soon. One shipment came— it wasn’t enough for every household to get a sack, but some did. Not that one 25kg sack of rice lasts very long in an island household. One of our taxi drivers lamented this week, “We use at least 3-4 kg of rice each day!” Still they hope that more, larger shipments will come.  In the meantime, perhaps some households are trying some new foods, but most are suffering, hungry and longing for rice!

Back from last day of local school!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that some rice came this week to Clove Island. Our daughter was able to get stronger meds that have decreased her pain and made her feel more and allow her to sleep better.  We are thankful that she was able to see a specialist so quickly and that all the tests ordered are available there! Tom finally studied with Kwendzi and it went well! We are thankful that our youngest son was able to finish well at the local elementary school! Praise that Muki continues to come almost every day to study and has fresh insights every time.  


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray for our daughter— she has an MRI and a follow-up appointment scheduled for later this week. She is in good spirits, but nervous about getting behind in school as she will have to miss two days. Pray that she would not fall behind and that we’d have clarity about what is going on.  This is our last full week on island before leaving for over 2 months. Pray for us as we pack our house into our living room so that hopefully they can do needed repairs to the roof over our bedrooms while we are gone. Pray also as we try to give things away and say goodbyes. Pray for the airport town and the neighboring village as they have been fighting and setting fire to each other’s boat and buildings. Pray for the island brothers and sisters that live there to be voices for peace. Pray for the island women as they gather to study this week— may they encourage, comfort and motivate each other.