Fellow Rwandans, as we celebrate this year’s World Food Day, it is very sad and unfortunate that a big percentage of our people go to bed hungry.

I call it involuntary fasting. Yes, take a few hours drive through Umutara and you will see that our folk in these areas have nothing to celebrate about World Food Day. Food is scarce in their homes.

Families go to bed hungry, thank God organisations like ADRA (an Adventist Non governmental Organisation) try to provide some help.

But you know what Mishinga (organization) food means. Go to the village paths in these areas and check the sad faces of kids going back to school after the so called lunch break. One was open enough to tell me "There was no reason for me to go home for lunch.

Mum had nothing to cook.

When there is food, there is no firewood.” While still at school, we used to have a slogan "Food first,” meaning that without food, there is little or no life at all. Medicine cannot be effective without food.

In fact lack of food is as big a killer as the rest of the deadly diseases.

For those of you out there who can afford to have food on your tables, let’s try to keep our food safe and nutritious.

Store it in refrigerators, use salt, keep foods dry and not overcook vegetables if we want to get much out of vegetables.

Eat fruits, stay away from oily foods and always bless the hands at the farms that provide us with everyday food. Hoping by World Food Day 2008, will meet us with less hungry people.

Flawa (mflavia2001@ yahoo.com)