FOOD AND WELL-BEING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21949, 5 November 1934, Page 12

FOOD AND WELL-BEING

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIVES » LIFE IN OVAMBOLAND" FEMALES OUTLIVE MALES [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT] CAPETOWN. Oct. 1 111 Ovamboland. which is in a remote corner of South AY est, Africa, the native women nearly always outlive the men and what is thought Jo be a f-asible explanation of it is given in a report, presented by the Government of the Union to the Council of the League of Nations concerning the administration of this territory.

Quoting tlie remarks of a, Native Commissioner in regard to production of tho Ovambo's staple food and its distribution among the various family groups, the report states: —It is easily noticeable that the female inmates of the kraals arc always in much better condition than the males. They spend practically the whole day in the kitchen around the cooking-pots.

The young, growing girls, who do a large part of the difficult duties of btampiijg the corn with primitive pestles and mortars, always appear particularly well nourished. This is the case even in famine years. Theirs is the privilege of helping themselves to titbits in the vicinity of the cooking pots and preparing extra dishes for themselves at odd times. While stamping or pounding operations are in progress in the very early hours of the day, it is a custom with these girls to oat unboiled stamped corn out of the mortars. This the parents appear ,to accept as being in order, as lii-tlo is done to check it. The uncooked omuhango meal appears to he particularly nourishing and wholesome.

The Growing Children The lot of the growing boy ; on the other hand, is much harder. After he has left his mother's apron strings he spends most of his time playing about in a section of the kraal away from the cooking pots. In his early boyhood he is trained by his father to do light jobs in repairing fences, making handles for hoes and axes. Subsequently he is allotted the daily task of herding goats and calves. When he has reached this stage his life becomes a hard one. After the first meal in the morning the boy is sent out with ihe stock mentioned and does not return until nightfall, when he has his second meal; generally what is left by older brothers and other menfolk. In a good season this may be sufficient for him to thrive on, as there are always wild fruits, veldkos, frogs and other things which he can obtain while out herding the stock. In drought seasons when food is scarce and there are 110 wild fruits, he receives only scraps or a very sparse meal iu the morning, and i'it the evening his chances of getting anything to eat are very remote.

"In ihe same way as girls are privileged to help themselves out of the cooking pots or mortars, the boys help themselves to milk from cows and goats in the veld. In a drought season this amounts to practically nothing. Hard Liie in the Winter During the winter, when the stock is sent out to distant cattle posts, his life is still harder. At these places he seldom receives any grain, but has to rely on ihe milk he can obtain from the stock or on what lie can shoot with his bow and arrows, such as birds, hares and other small mammals. "When there are no cattle to tend the boy is used on all odd jobs and messages and is generally ordered about by every grown-up member of the kraal. It is no wonder, therefore, that his physical condition compares very unfavourably with that of his sister. During famine periods it is easily noticeable that the Ovambo child is the first to show signs of under-nourish-ment. This may explain why there is a preponderance of old women over old men in Ovamboland. With the underfeeding and hard life in his youth the man's constitution and general physical fitness is undermined, with the result that he does not reach the same mature age as the woman. The total native population of Ovamboland is 117,000.