vicki, 16 Apr 2009 09:02 hours
Oshakati, Namibia Fat and Fatter ‘Vicki, it’s you. I didn’t know if it was you. You’ve got so big.’
Vicki you are different. Your face, it is round.
I know that it is a compliment to say to someone, if you haven’t seen them for a while that they are looking fat (ie they must be prosperous and doing well if they have plenty to eat). It is one thing to intellectually know this but I come from a culture of the morbidly obese striving towards the anexoric and I find it hard to smile pleasantly and say, yes I am happy that I have put on a little weight since I was here. Soon I am in a dress shop checking that I can still get into size 12 and on occasion a size 10, and that it is still only half a dress size I have gained, whilst trying to banish a newly formed vision of myself as this huge beast lumbering through the world.
Everywhere here there are people walking, walking. Some children in the rural areas walk up to 12k a day to get to school. If you haven’t got money for a taxi you have no choice but to walk. There is no public transport infrastructure so people hitch hike for long distances which means waiting by the roadside often for hours and often without shade in the heat of a hot sun. On my way North i picked up a woman hiking to work. She was a midwife in the local hospital and this was how she commuted daily. ‘Have you been waiting long,’ I asked her. Only 2 hours I was told and most days she does get to work on time. The fat adults here are the ones who have made some money and can afford a car. It is rare to see a plump black child. And so here is my solution to the growing obesity epidemic that is currently swamping our health service. Take away our cars and make us walk everywhere. We’ll all be fit and healthy and it’ll sort out global warming. Everybody’s car must go, except mine, of course.
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