Maize is life in Africa. Introduced hundreds of years ago by explorers, merchants, and slave traders, maize has become the most important crop on the continent. Whether roasted as kernels, boiled as porridge, or stirred rapidly into a stiff mixture - called “nsima” in Malawi - no meal is complete without maize in some form.
I’ve seen it in the faces of the children, as they watch the older boys take turns stirring nsima in the mammoth pot. Or as they sit silently at the tables, waiting for the last person to be served - mentally comparing the amounts of nsima on each others’ plates. Huge, steaming clods of the stiff porridge, usually two to a child, are the main event. They tear off a small piece, roll it around in their hand, and dip it into the “ndiwo” - or relish. At Hope Village, “ndiwo” always consists of chicken, beef, or beans and cooked vegetables of some sort.
The ndiwo is delicious, but it is the nsima that takes away the hunger pains and fills the stomach against the cold, hard hunger of the night - and perhaps even the next day.
Malawians take their nsima seriously. In what might be called the most culturally insensitive blog post I have ever read, a western student working in Malawi recently called nsima “the most disgusting and pointless food in the history of the world.” Some Malawians who read the post defended her right to free speech but many others called for her immediate deportation. One man threatened that he knew where she lived and another man accused her of treason When this naive young woman touched nsima, she touched the stuff that keeps millions of Africans alive.
Personally,I love nsima. Especially when my friend Fally makes her green beans and tomato dish, or fresh peas for the ndiwo. I always say I could eat that every day - and maybe I could. But I have a choice. The children - and the villagers - don’t.
Their ndiwo usually consists of a small bowl of boiled okra or boiled greens. An extended family sits on the ground around one plate of nsima and one bowl of greens - and they share.
That’s why it is such an amazing thing to our children that they get to sit at table, with individual plates and cups. They love having a defined amount that belongs to them alone. They eat huge clods of nsima, more than you would think possible - and raise their hands for seconds if there is some left over.
Sometimes the children tuck chunks of food away in little pieces of plastic to save for the evening - or to take home to a hungry relative.
Since this is a home-based care program, the children are not always at Hope Village. And they are not the only ones in their extended family who are hungry.
The Malawi government insists that there will be no food shortage this year - that even though the rains were disappointing, there is still plenty of maize in storage. Of course, the people in the villages don’t believe it - they’re worried. And they’re not just worried about whether or not the maize will run out, they worry about whether or not they can afford to buy what is there.
Maize prices have nearly doubled from last year and they’re still rising. Last year a 50 kg bag cost 1800 kwacha - about $13. This year the price is at K3500 - or $25. This is a steep increase for a typical villager who makes less than that in a month and has a large family to feed.
And this is why we recently purchased 4 1/2 tons of maize, stocking the storeroom at Hope Village to the ceiling. Now, every Saturday morning, the older girls will carry basins of maize on their heads to the nearest maize mill for processing.
They will then return with basins of snow-white “ufa” - or maize flour, ready to be made into porridge or nsima. And a portion will be sent home with the children weekly - for those in-between days when they are fending for themselves in the village.
In Africa, maize is life! Baba, Lloyd, Missi and all the kids of Hope Village say “thank you”!
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