Why mad people don't die of hunger

By Deo K. Tumusiime

I normally sit out at a bar in Kampala, operated by Ethiopian nationals. Now, more often than not, I get to see a guy that qualifies to be called a madman file sanely into the bar. He's always dressed in same unusual attire, augmented by awkward stuff I guess picked from garbage bins.

This man looks generally calm and does not antagonize anyone. On arrival in the bar, he's often met by one senior bartender, who offers him a sh2,000 note and the man makes a U-turn out of the bar.

I have no idea how many generous people this mad man meets in a day, but if many, then he could be a rich man in his state. Yet even if he only fetches the sh2,000 from the Ethiopian bar, it is just enough to afford him something to eat for a day and he survives.

Should any day be too bad for this man, there's always enough food stuffs thrown away in the garbage bins, by those who have more than what they can consume. Often they won't pass on the extra to a hungry neighbor but will watch it get spoilt and thrown into the bin.

Our Beautiful country Uganda has slowly evolved into a capitalist state, one where many people care about their stomachs and those of their immediate relatives.

The socialist spirit where people lived and shared as a community has faded away. Faded to such an extent that one needs to be ‘mad' in order to get some leftovers from the capitalist's table, lest they die of hunger.

I was very surprised to hear that the official reason why government is unable to hold Local Council elections is because the money for this activity was diverted to deal with hunger outbreak in some parts of the country.

Hmmm. Relax, Mr. Government, No one can die of hunger in a country so richly endowed with fertile soils and overly generous weather. Short term fixes of offering people handouts of food in my view is far from the real solution to hunger. In fact, ironically, the solution to hunger could actually be in having functional Local Councils.

How can a functional Local Council end Hunger? A functional Local Council can end hunger by ensuring that its people equitably share resources and opportunities, and compelling food-rich homesteads to buffer food-poor homesteads in times of crisis. Currently with no proper society structure, such benefits of community living are missed because everyone is living on their own.

How do other mad men other than the calm one I meet at the Ethiopian bar get food? Other mad men actually also ask for food from those who have, and failure to surrender, they take it by force.

Yes, this is what happens when a society of people who share the same blood, choose to live as strangers, independent of each other. Yet everyone feels hungry the same, gets excited and sad, feels pain when hurt, respires and perspires, and breathes the same unseen air.

I recently gave some members on the WhatsApp group for my village mates two assignments:

The first assignment; I asked each of them to lie down on their backs and simply look up to the sky at leisure. They would then tell me what they saw. A blue sky is what everyone saw from wherever they were. I then told them that the blue sky they were seeing, was one huge roof created by God to shield us all his children. It did not matter which tribe or religion or political party one belonged to-the sky is BLUE.

I mentioned to them that since we all see the sky as blue, shielding us the same way, then we must surely be brothers and sisters before the same God. This God was kind enough not only to shield us with a blue sky, but God created the moon, star and the sun which provide us free light; the free air we breathe, the land which produces food planted or growing on its own, birds in the air to entertain us and give us company, fruits, and herbs in the wild for anyone to pick, and when it rains, it falls for all of us irrespective of who we are.

 

Second assignment: I asked every member to pick just one healthy dry bean. Just one. We would dig a small hole anywhere on our compounds and cover it lightly with soil. We have been monitoring this bean from our respective homes and sharing pictures of progress on a weekly basis. Currently at week 4, the bean has produced so many leaves (These leaves can be eaten as vegetables) and is beginning to flower.

It is estimated that from this one bean, shall come at least 60 new bean seeds. It this multiplier effect once mastered, that God created as natural response to fighting hunger.

And without recourse to government handouts, a community can share seeds among its members without involving money, and hunger would be history……provided we desist from Genetically Modified stuff which dictates that we must always run to the shop to buy see to plant.

God took care of our food needs long before we were born. All people need is a handful of beans to plant and not a sack of beans to eat.

No matter how small a piece of land one has, we can make it count even if it means irrigating daily in dry weather. Surely even if human beings be mean, a handful of beans to a neighbour isn't too much to share off a harvest.

In a nutshell, hunger must never be a problem in a country like Uganda- no. We only need to learn to utilize and share the natural gifting God placed at our disposal for our survival.

The writer is a communications consultant