Hunger season is no picnic, literally and figuratively. Imagine a time of the year completely opposite to the holidays that we in the states look forward to like Christmas or thanksgiving where overindulgence is celebrated. Kind of a difficult concept for an American to grasp until actually experiencing it. In a nutshell, hunger season is a period of a few months during the year where Zambians, in certain parts of the country, go without food variety, and in worst case scenarios - food.
The way the time table goes for the average villager who is 95% of the time unemployed and a peasant farmer is similar - at least in my area of the country. Harvests for maize, the cash crop that fetches the most weight in money after its sold, occurs, roughly in May & July. This is the most affluent time of year where families and even the poor reach the peak of their income level. They harvest acres of maize and sell it for a moderate return depending on how well and hard they have worked that year.
The money either gets saved or spent depending on how responsible the farmer is. Hopefully they've set some income aside for fertilizers and seeds for the upcoming planting season (October-November). They also keep some of the maize for themselves and their families so they can take it to the hammer mill and eat nshima(corn meal), the Zambian staple food, for the rest of the year. Given the circumstances, the family either sells or keeps enough to last. After the plantings occur, and the nshima has been fed upon for closing in on a year - supplies start to run low. On top of the scarcity, September- November is dry season and vegetables from their gardens also start to become less and less plentiful. No water = no vegetables.
By the time February comes around, just a few months after the rains have started, the vegetables in their gardens are too raw to harvest, and their maize supply for nshima is now either gone or running very low. Some people have learned and planned for this rock bottom time of year, while others suffer and are at the mercy of those who were wise. This sad, sad time of the year is referred to as hunger season and its felt in villages all over the country at different times of the year.
From a PCV's perspective, we have no change in the living allowance we receive monthly, even during hunger season. Though it may be a bit harder to obtain fresh vegetables, the difficulty that we experience during this time of year is guilt. While my next store neighbor is eating plain nshima with no vegetables or proteins in very meager quantities, I'm next door cooking a pasta prima-vera dish, or eating a dinner with 10 ingredient and 10 different spices. It has a tendency of making me feel greedy. Its a guilt trip like no other to see a skinny child with an empty belly while mine is full. But the reality is that I cant feed an entire village meal to meal - so where do I draw the line when I want to sneak my neighbor a plate of rice or some vegetables to go with what little rations they may or may not have? News of my actions spreads faster the wildfire in the village so the second I give one person food, 20 more appear at my door-Usually children. Its a road to a perfect storm that could cause other backlash like village jealously and, or even violence to those who have been favored. A fine line to say the least and we PCV's are encouraged not to hand out at will in such a way to avoid these potentially volatile situations.
So what do I do? I've come to the conclusion, after plenty of time to decide that I should give as much as I can spare during this time of year. I use to be under the impression that giving was counterproductive to what I do here in Zambia. Harboring a dependent lifestyle is not what development is about. I'm here to be a temporary crutch and teach them the skills that allow them to maintain on their own. But during hunger season, I submit. I do cook for my neighbors when I see them hungry, I do make extra food each night - it may not be enough to feed the masses, but it feeds some.
Now I don't want to give the impression that my village appears in starving swarms, or that I'm a soup kitchen - its not that bad and i'm not that much of a saint, but, as the richest one in the village - especially during this time of the year I feel it my duty to step up and be a giving tree to whomever I can support on a low key the best I can. Some nights I give, and some nights even I eat rice with tomatoes and can't supply others. But where I can trim the fat and break off a piece, I do my part. With great power (or sources of income) comes great responsibility - My liberal mom would be very proud of that.
When I leave the village for an extended period of time, which these days occurs often, I'll give all my vegetables to my neighbor. When I cook dinner at night, Ill cook a pot of food twice as large as I usually can consume on my own and hand out portions to my neighbor kids (when i can - every other night). Its not much, but its something, and as long as I can keep it seasonal and sporadic, I feel like its the loose change that you and I may contribute during the Christmas season to the salvation army Santa outside of the mall.
This year was exceptionally bad as I had a consistent group of kids saying each night during February that they were hungry. I concluded that their parents dropped the ball in rationing their nshima supply or ran into some problems that caused them to sell more maize then they should of. The way I justified it is that most of these kids fetch me water on a daily basis anyway, I'm just paying my water bill at a higher rate this year with portions of food on top of sweeties (hard candies I give to kids for getting me water).
With March now here and May and June just around the corner, early harvest will begin to occur soon and money will once again start coming around to villagers, enabling them to start eating healthier diets and thus lessen the wave of people I feel obligated to feed. Its a rough time of year, but Zambians are a strong enough people to be capable of overcoming, with or without my help, but hey - I'm here to help.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is to communicate to you the grand difference of seasonal times in this country, and in comparison to the culture and holidays we know of in the states, but also that flat out giving isn't necessarily condoning dependency. If its done with consideration, empathy and responsibly it can be the most sincere gift that one person can bestow on another. I've come to change my perspective on the way I go about it and think I have a clearer picture on the way it should and shouldn't be done. Perhaps my new found giving habit may even foster a more inclined tendency among them to give when the chips are high on there side and therefore creating a sustainable environment where everybody helps everybody when they can. Justified in that sense - Im just doing what I came here to do. I feel better about my decision already.
