Friday, February 22, 2013

Man and Stomach

An old African story tells the story of Man and the Stomach that I got from a book I am reading about South Sudan called "Emma's War."

Once upon a time Man existed separately from Stomach. Stomach was content with eating roasted insects and didn't care for anything else. Then one day Man decided to put Stomach in the place that it now resides. When Stomach entered Man it was no longer satisfied with roasted insects but desired other foods. It didn't matter what Man gave Stomach to eat because it was never completely satisfied and always desired more.


This story depicts the African culture perfectly. If you a person with a big waist, you are seen by the community as someone of importance. Large people are not seen as important just because African's fear big people but because large people require lots of food, which means you have some food to share. Large people are treated well as long as they share what they have received. This may not be true for all of Africa but it seems to be a noticeable trend.