Esther Home Family Visit - Yvonne

We did not need to travel far to visit with Yvonne’s family. Yvonne’s father, Robert, met us and graciously welcomed us to their home. Yvonne is one of five girls and has one brother; which they call “boy” - he was the only of her siblings that was at home. He is currently waiting for his national exam results and is confident that his exams scores will be high enough for him to be sponsored by the government to go to the University. Yvonne’s mother, who was in the Women For Women Program, is now employed and working with children; she arrived shortly after we came and was eager to see us once again.

Yvonne’s grandmother had recently passed on. They shared with us that she was 116 years old at the time of her death. She lived in a small village in Uganda and was cattle raiser. Her oldest son, who is 80 plus years old, was living and caring for her in this small village until her passing. They shared with us that in her lifetime she only drank cow’s milk and ate cassava root.

The cow’s milk lasts only two days and then it turns into a mixture similar to yogurt. Cattle raisers never eat the meat of the cows they raise and they keep their cattle for about five years; selling them only for economic reasons. On holidays they may purchase and eat meat then, but again never from their own stock.

Cassava is a topical root vegetable cultivated in Africa - similar to a potato. Despite the fact that it often plays an important role in people's diets, cassava root is actually not that nutritious. The leaves of the plant have far more protein and nutritional value than cassava root does, in fact. Cassava root can actually be highly toxic, since it contains cyanide and it needs to be carefully handled and treated before it can be consumed. It does have the advantage of growing well in poor soil, and being filling when little else is available.

The root must be grated and soaked or left out in the sun to allow the cyanide to disperse before it can be eaten. Once treated, the cassava root can be ground into flour, kept whole in flakes for various dishes, or processed to extract tapioca. “Sweet” cassava has lower levels of cyanide, and it can be peeled and used like a conventional root vegetable.

Not only did we have a wonderful visit with Yvonne and her family but we left with a great appreciation of the cultural ways of these beautiful people of Africa