Lutgard Musiime - Page 14 of 31

The two stomachs that left her with burnt buttocks

June 29, 2021

I don’t know what kind of life you are currently leading in this Covid period with all the craziness of the deaths, masks, washing hands and lockdowns at least here in Uganda. Grass has now increased it’s value with concoctions erupting each day leaving many with burnt faces as they try to steam away the virus. But who can blame them? Anything that can help to keep one from the oxygen mask sounds viable. But before all this, there were struggles which may now look trivial like getting rid of excess belly fat.

Sandra did not mind her excess belly fat which made her look like she had been created with 2 stomachs. You know those piles of flesh which make a distinct divide below your waist line? Yes those. She did not give them thought mainly because half the time she had no where to go. She was a stay home mother, working from home and only got to leave the house to buy some onion bulbs and salt when it got done. She got a few stares here and there whenever she went to church on Sunday but this was for a short time as she entered church or when she was leaving. Still this did not bother her much, after all she stayed away from the body con type of dresses which would probably have made her the center of unwanted attention. Once in a while when she watched television, there was a talk show of a famous herbalist who always talked about different ways of using organic natural methods to live healthy. On this particular day, he was talking about a way one can detox their stomach by flashing warm water through the rectum. Yes, through the rectum. The way water is able to move from the cistern in your bathroom and flash down the contents in the toilet, someone could do the same to their body system and flash out the unwanted contents in the stomach like excess fat. Sandra did not believe it of course because television talk shows can at times be a stage of theater. Whoever has the money can stage a show and the one with the best craft will be able to get a standing ovation. But the idea of getting rid of her 2nd stomach sounded like such a good idea so she decided to do an independent investigation as to whether this was even a feasible idea or if there were results that she could draw courage from to try. To her surprise this seemed to be a popular thing among the people she asked. You could think it had been approved by the CDC and she would not have bothered to try if she had got a testimony from her cousin Aidah who owed her flat stomach to the infamous evacuation detox that she claimed to use time to time.

Manned with the tools for the exercise having taken her son to the grandmother, she was determined to make this happen. It was a Friday afternoon, in the privacy of her home, she had finished boiling the water that would have to be used in the exercise. So apparently you fix a long flexible tube, those tubes like the nasogastric tubes used in hospital when your health has deteriorated so much that you cannot even swallow food, so they have to fix a tube from the nose down to your throat to give you food just to keep you alive. Yes a tube like that now goes all the way into your rectum. The free end is then fixed to a jerrycan with the warm water which creates a flow system. The water apparently fills your bowel and you remove the tube and release the water which should come out with the ‘unwanted’ materials hence doing a detox. Easy right!!! Well for Sandra it was different. Aside the awkwardness of having to fix tubes in uncomfortable places, the water burnt her buttocks instead. What was supposed to be an interesting wonder working exercise, left her walking like she had weights attached to her insides for a number of days as she treated her scalds.

I will never try these self help wonder hacks again, Sandra told me as I tried so hard to swallow the laughter that came from the whole imagination of what that Friday must have looked like. Sandra will probably not read this but if she does, it will be printed and sent by bus 300km from where I am writing this.

If you can, try to eat right so that you do not have to undergo evacuation exercises like Sandra and end up with burnt buttocks.

Lifestyle

The beauty I was unware of

June 28, 2021

I had my fears as a young girl in school. I noticed part of my skin was beginning to be eaten by something invisible at around the age of 7. It was rather not decided which parts of my body it would devour first. It started with my lips leaving them with a pink lining which to be honest I felt was rather ‘cute’, then later the invisible enemy would splash its weapons to my hands leaving them with discolored little patches spread out. I remember going to my parents concerned that I was sick but they didn’t really show concern. Felt like they had signed a memorandum of understanding with the enemy and did not want to fail on their part, but I later got to understand that they also did not understand what was happening to their sweet child. My mother must have mumbled things along the lines of ‘you are going to be fine‘ but that was as far as it would go. I was not taken to hospital either and I soon gave up too. The beauty of being a child!

In my primary 3 (or grade 3), I remember students reporting me to the teacher that my lips where red because I was drinking waragi (whisky) behind the toilet. (Imagine the shock in my eyes). I wept when the teacher summoned me for questioning partly because I was angry and embarrassed that I could be associated with liquor at such an age let alone waragi for this case, but also I couldn’t explain why my lips were red or rather pink. The events of what happened after seem to be faint but I guess the case died a natural death and life had to continue. Two years after this incident I started seeing the discoloration (white spots) spread to my hands and feet and this time I gathered enough courage to ask my mother what was happening to me. She told me I was born with them just that I had never seen them but it’s not sickness. (aren’t all mothers geniuses with their responses?) For some reason just like the first time I went to them when I was younger, I believed her after all it was mother who had said, even when I was sure that my hands and feet did not have these spots earlier so I stopped worrying that I was sick. The discoloration was most pronounced on my lips but it always looked nice so it was a bonus for me unless I had any ailment, these were the rare cases it would hurt and turn red- I guess because there’s no melanin so it was very sensitive.

Overcoming vitiligo as an insecurity I can confidently say came in high school when I was around 15 years of age. I made friends with a very spirited girl with whom I lived my best life with. We celebrated, loved, ate, studied and cried together. From her I got to understand and appreciate my worth as a young beautiful girl despite what anyone said. She was my ride or die, fought and attacked whoever tried to come at me. It was by her guidance that I got to read about vitiligo and discovered that it is something that I had no control over or change but could use it to compliment myself. I started to see it as something normal like having black hair as the other has blond hair. This does not mean that bad and hurtful things stopped coming to my doorstep. I will give you one last example.

In my senior 6 vacation, I escorted my mother to hospital and a doctor insisted that I be checked for HIV, “there’s no other reason why your lips are pink.” the doctor said. “It has to be AIDS“. My mom agreed and I also believed in the moment I was HIV positive and started imagining all the painful stories I had heard about AIDS victims. The results came that very day and of course I did not have AIDS but these are the challenges we often face.

Very many years later I am now a married woman and will soon be a mother to children of my own. The questions that linger are how far this could spread. Remember vitiligo is affected by external triggers like stress which can influence its progression. About two years ago while in hospital treating an ulcer attack, my physician asked me if I knew the condition I had when he saw the white spots in my hands and feet to which I responded that I did. He told me that this was bound to spread when I get pregnant, so now that I am looking forward to that season not so far from now, I continuously wonder how I will look while pregnant, or if what the doctor alleged was true in the first place.

But hey! it is true what they say, we shall cross that bridge when get there, for now I continue to live my best life.

As told by someone with vitiligo

Lifestyle

Personal style

June 25, 2021

This week was a cultural and fashion week and I decided not embarrass myself and stick to something that I am most confident in which is culture, mostly on food. (If you have not read on those, you may want to pause right here and swipe back a few pages and enjoy those first. It will make me very happy.) Nevertheless this being the end of the week, I will make an attempt to talk a little about the things I tend to like to wear. I don’t want to call it fashion because I doubt it is anyway.

Favorite color

Many of the colors that I have are in dark tones, particularly black so whenever this question is posed to me, I like to say black is my favorite color. And yes I am one of those girls who believe black is the new pink. I once asked my mother how she would take it if I wore a black gown on my wedding. You guessed right! Just like any African mother, she said I would have to attend that on my own, probably with my husband. It is just of late that I am trying to introduce lighter shades in my wardrobe but a black outfit will always catch my eye.

What does my style say about me?

I am one of those people who don’t subscribe to the saying, “Smartness knows no weather” If it is cold, I will wear a warmer over that dress please, I am not about to freeze please. I will more than often choose comfort over style. I have a group of friends where we decided to respect Sundays which is the day of the Lord so this is the day you will find me ‘overly dressed’ like many like to say. We decided that we shall always dress our best on this day and now it almost happens unconsciously. The rest of the days you will find me in a more casual style, unless I have a very important event to go to. I will more than often choose to wear sneakers over heels. Give me sneakers any day please. I like to say that my daily style is more of a relaxed and free spirited one mixed with confidence and strength. Once in a while I will out do myself but that is when it is really necessary.

Sundays will most often find us outdoing ourselves

Style Icons

Style icons are stylish men and women who have come before us from whom we draw inspiration for our style. This doesn’t mean copying them entirely, but simply noting some of the style choices that also reflect elements of who we are. Now here I will confess that I do not have one, the most that I do is to look at different stylish people especially on Instagram and like their fashion. Rarely does this cross over to my style choices so maybe it is safe to say Instagram is my style icon.

Items I am always drawn to

The moment I walk into a clothing store I immediately gravitate towards the shoe section, particularly for sneakers. Then I will look out for a beautiful black item, could be a dress, skirt, jumper, trousers, it just has to have a hue of black and it will get me hooked.

Not sure if I have done justice to the fashion world but briefly that is what my personal style would look like on a given random day.

***This is me trying to introduce some lighter shades in my wardrobe***

Culture, Nutrition

Food taboos, do you they work for us or against us?

June 24, 2021

Taboos are a part of every culture and among these are food taboos. Anything that is taboo is strictly forbidden, for cultural or spiritual reasons. Those known to have transgressed taboo are punished, and may be cast out of their society. In the days of old, these taboos served a purpose of enforcing discipline and control in society although many of these were many a time affecting only a section of society who were the children and women. These days however, a taboo is usually seen as a magic concept with no real basis although there often is reason for it, at least within systems of belief, some of which are now termed ‘religions’, others ‘philosophies’, and others ‘superstitions’. Food taboos are deeply entrenched and their rationale may be religious, cultural, hygienic, historic or economic.

Reggie Annan, a lecturer/Public Health Nutritionist at Kwame Nkurumah University of Science and Technology says ” In Africa, as in many other parts of the world, what people say and do is strongly influenced by age-old supernatural beliefs, which Christian missionaries downgraded as ‘superstition’. In Africa, as in Asia, older and country people still may live as much in the realms of the supernatural and the afterlife, as in the physically living realm”

In Africa, many cultures forbade children and women from eating most of the protein rich foods from animal sources like chicken, eggs, pork, goats milk to mention but a few. But like we said many of these had a super natural belief attached however behind closed curtains, a justifiable reason was given. For example in Ghana, children were not allowed to eat eggs for it was believed that if the child was fed on eggs, they would end up thieves. This practice has faded in current times although some areas still hold onto this practice and children themselves will refuse eggs when they are offered to protect themselves from becoming thieves. Trying to understand why this supernatural belief existed, this is the explanation that I was given which turns out to be for economic reasons, “it was feared that when children were fed very well or were brought up luxuriously, they would resort to stealing to maintain opulent ways of living when their parents can longer afford or when they grew up. And so to avoid this situation, children were not allowed foods considered to be luxuries.” Whilst this made alot of sense and I believe it was done in the best interest of the children, it served more harm than good. You see, children need eggs more than anyone as they are growing because eggs are a very good source of proteins that is most required yet here they are worrying about not becoming thieves. It is even more unfortunate that some superstitions found their way to breastfeeding in some cultures and some of these will shock you. In some cultures, it was believed that milk given to babies in the night would be sour their stomach so teas were given instead. Lactating mothers who had sexual intercourse with a man who was not the father of the child, were at risk of giving the baby ‘bad’ milk or the baby picking germs. The most surprising of them all I came across was that unless a drop of breastmilk is squeezed into the rectum of the baby, milk from the breast of a woman who has been working in the sun and sweating would make the baby sick. All these worked against the baby who would end up losing out all the benefits of breastmilk and end up malnourished.

Food taboos have an impact on dietary intake and nutritional status of the affected persons. In Uganda like other parts of Africa, tribal food taboos, especially as applied to women and female children, have been one of the main causes of malnutrition. Kwashiorkor which is a form of severe acute malnutrition has been one of the common occurrences here in Africa and food taboos together with poverty have played a big role in this. In addition to the examples I have pointed above, I will give you another case in point to drive the point home. For so long here in Uganda among many cultures, it was a taboo for a pregnant woman to continue breastfeeding even when the older child was less than six months. It was believed that continuing to breastfeed would harm the growing child therefore such mothers stopped breastfeeding as soon as they found out that they were pregnant. On top of stopping to breastfeed, these children were often neglected because mothers turned all their attention on the pregnancy and preparation for the coming child. Hence the older child became malnourished. The indigenous people in those days did not realise that these children were suffering from malnutrition because they had been prematurely weaned, were being inadequately fed, and receiving poor care.

This leaves me with the question that where do we draw the line between respecting culture by upholding the taboos and violating them to preseve life.

What food taboos exist in your culture? What superstitions accompany them and have you found out the reason behind the closed curtains. Also have you ever wondered why there is almost no food taboo that affects the men?

Culture, Nutrition

Uganda’s native foods

June 23, 2021

You have probably heard people talk about a staple food and maybe or maybe not you have wondered what in the world a staple food is. A staple food is a food that is eaten routinely and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. It is eaten regularly or even daily. We have about 41 tribes here in Uganda and each of these have a staple food that has been handed over generations down since time memorial although many tribes share in the regions where they are. These staple foods are mostly shaped by the geographical conditions of the area where these people hail.

Uganda is generally an equatorial country although the climate is not uniform as temperatures and rainfall vary with altitude across regions. The southern part of Uganda is more rainy, and the rainfall is generally spread throughout the year. On the northern shore of Lake Victoria, the rain falls from March to June and from November to December. In the southwest, on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it rains heavily all year round. The northeastern region has the driest climate and is prone to droughts in some years. Annual rainfall ranges between 500 mm in the northeast and 1300 mm in the southwest. However today let us look at the different staples and native foods that shape our cultures in Uganda

Overall, plantains (also commonly known as matooke here in Uganda) and cassava are the most common staple foods in Uganda. Plantains or simply matooke are starchy bananas that are cooked and consumed as a staple which you will find as a part of most household diets here. Plantains are common in the central, western, and southern regions whereas cassava is very in eastern, northern, and northwestern Uganda. The other staple foods we have in Uganda include sweet potatoes, Maize, wheat, rice, millet, groundnuts, sorghum, to mention but a few. Food staples vary from place to place like earlier said, depending on the food sources available. Most food staples are inexpensive, plant-based foods and usually full of calories for energy. From the examples given above you can see that cereal grains and tubers are the most common food staples. Although staple foods are nutritious, they do not provide the full, healthy range of nutrients. People must add other foods to their diets to avoid malnutrition.

You maybe wondering the ‘other foods’ I am referring to that ought to be added to get the rest of the nutrients. These ‘other foods’ are called complementary foods and just as their name suggests, these complement the staples. They may not be routinely eaten and not in large quantities as the staples but the serve an essential role in meeting nutritional requirements. They are also more expensive compared to the staples. They include protein sources like meat, poultry, fish, legumes and milk products; energy sources like fats, oils and sugars; and vitamin and mineral sources – fruits, vegetables and animal products. Just like the staples they are varied in regions depending on their way of living, for example fish will be found common in the Albertine region and Lake Victoria basin while milk products will be found among regions that herd cattle.

That being said, I will leave you with Uganda’s must trys when it comes to native foods. These comprise of most of Uganda’s staple foods in all regions that we have.

Matooke

Being the most common staple food is Uganda I will start here. It is a type of plantain belonging to the East African Highland Banana group that can be peeled and be boiled in water, steamed in banana leaves then squeezed to make a golden yellow mash or else boiled together with ground nuts, beans or meat, offal to make the delicious meal commonly known as akatogo. Another type of plantain that is enjoyed by many is Gonja which can either be steamed or fried. Matooke can also be cooked without being peeled to make a dish known as mpogola or roasted in hot ash which is a very tasty meal accompanied with a complementary dish of choice. Probably what makes it even more common is the various options of preparation that it has.

Luwombo

This is a very common dish that has spread to almost all parts of the country with it’s roots in Buganda. History tells us that it was invented by Kabaka Mwanga’s personal chef in the 19th century, in 1887and was meant to be eaten by the royal family. Over the centuries, this opened up to his subjects and is now popular in most parts of the country. Because of it’s length of preparation, it is preserved for special days like Christmas, Easter, Eid, weddings, introduction ceremonies, business meetings and also when one has important visitors at home. There are restaurants however that have made it part and parcel of their daily menu and one does not have to wait for a special day to enjoy it. Luwombo can be prepared using chicken, smoked fish, beef, goat meat, mushrooms and ground nut (peanut) sauce. The ingredients are put in smoked banana leaves to give the luwombo the best aroma. Note that smoked beef or goat meat also make very delicious luwombo. Recently I found out that there is pork luwombo which I am yet to try.

Akaro

I have decided to use my native language for this but this is a mixture of millet or sorghum flour and cassava that is mingled with boiling water until it stiffens and becomes solid. The mixture of the ingredients differs as some tribes prepare it with less proportions of cassava and others with more cassava flour while others prefer it with no cassava. For instance the Bakonjo enjoy just mingling cassava flour known as Obundwe whereas people in eastern Uganda enjoy Atapa where more cassava flour is mingled with less millet flour. In Western Uganda it is millet with less cassava, they do not use sorghum and it is known as Akaro

Malewa

I got the privilege for tasting this for the first time in my life just a few weeks ago and if I had not seen it before preparation, I would have sworn that it was fish. This is a popular meal in Eastern Uganda where soft bamboo shoots are harvested, dried, cut into smaller pieces and boiled. Groundnut or peanut sauce is added and boiled together with the shoots until it is ready to be eaten. It is commonly enjoyed by the Bagisu, they serve it with Matooke and will leave you biting at your fingers.

Eshabwe

Have you ever imagined fat and salt making a delicacy? This is a traditional meal for the Banyankole, one of the tribes in western Uganda, although just like luwombo, it has gained popularity in other parts of the country too. It is prepared by using mature ghee of about 2 or 3 weeks, salt, cold boiled water and rock salt. For a variety and enhanced taste, some go ahead and add smoked meat.

Malakwang

Originally, this dish was reserved for dry seasons when food was scarce. Originating from the northern region, it is prepared using sour vegetables together with groundnuts and can be served with sweet potatoes and millet bread. Gone are the days when the dish was reserved for dry seasons, it is now eaten almost everyday given its affordability and it is also gaining prominence in other parts of the country.

Firinda

Growing I dreaded the day we had this on the menu. The work that went into un-shelling of the beans was exhausting especially those last 5 beans that would take forever. Firinda is a traditional meal popular among the Banyoro and Batooro in Western Uganda and is prepared by soaking the beans for a night and then they remove the husks. They are then boiled until they are soft and mashed into a porridge like consistency (puree); tomatoes, onions, ghee or smoked meat are added to make the firinda get the perfect taste and aroma. Other ingredients that can be put are vegetable eggs, pumpkin leaves, eggplants. The Bagisu and Acholi also enjoy this sauce and it is served with Akaro, sweet potatoes, cassava.

This is not all of the native foods, I have sampled just some of the most common ones in all the regions. Food shapes any culture or society and it would be interesting for you to try out all these if you happen to come to Uganda.