The children eat one meal a day of corn porridge, along with 70 other needy children at Mr. Missasse's church, a half-hour's walk away.

"I just eat corn porridge and mnyi," a kind of wild fruit.

They live like natives, on corn porridge, and occasionally stinking meat.

Peasants as well as nobles ate corn porridge in the morning.

Rice, pasta or ugali (a corn porridge rather like polenta) rounded out the meals; excellent fresh fruit was dessert.

Christmas dinner was sadza, or corn porridge, with hard-boiled eggs.

Now she stays with a second sister, living on corn porridge and tea.

"All we can eat is corn porridge," she said, "and there isn't nearly enough even of that."

Ugali, is their main daily diet which is thick corn porridge; fish or meat are also added to the ugali.

In the back, over an open fire, the women had made a vegetable and peanut stew to be eaten with a corn porridge.