Who wants to go to Chipotle? I ask that question at least once a week. It is one of my favorite places to eat. I’m a burritto bowl kinda girl. Have to have steak – yummy!! And chips, lots and lots of chips. I probably eat more chips and quacamole than I do the main meal. Since I know many people who usually answer “I do!!” to the Chipotle question asked above, I have to assume that there are many, many more people reading this post who have the same love experience with Chipotle as I do.
Do you remember the old Superman/Justice League cartoons where there was Bizarro world? Bizarro world was a world in which everything was the opposite from the real world. Superman was bad and wore all black in Bizarro world. The good Superman had to battle the Bizarro world Superman – the good Superman won each time (sorry, spoiler alert).
In the real world, you probably spend around $9 to buy your Chipotle bowl and chips. Close your eyes – nevermind, can’t read the blog if you close your eyes. Okay, just picture Bizarro world with your eyes open. You walk into Chipotle with your $9 and all you can get is a bowl of rice. That’s it, that is all you can afford. No more salsa, cheese, carnitas, nada. Just rice. And I’m not talking enough rice to load the bowl, just the same amount of rice you normally would get for your $9, but that is all you get now. Bizarro world!! This is not the world I want to live in. This is not the world you want to live in. Unfortunately, this is the world that East Africa is living in right now.
Due to an ongoing drought and the influx of refugees from Somalia and Sudan, the food prices in Kenya (and other parts of East Africa) have skyrocketed. No longer does $9 buy a Chipotle bowl full of yummy things to feed your family. Now it only buys a little rice. We’ve seen this food price issue growing just within Soweto alone in the last year. Our kids at Provision Academy still get fed twice a day, but there is no longer any meat on their plates. There is rarely any fruit. Instead, they eat Ugali (corn meal) and Kale and Potatoes. Every day. EVERY day. The portions they receive are getting smaller as food prices increase and as the population of our school increases.
Kenya, in my mind, is Bizarro world right now. I still live in the real world. I can still eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I’m not a fan of Bizarro world. The mean, bad, Superman used to freak me out as a kid. I really didn’t like him and was soooo very happy when the good Superman defeated him. I can’t imagine a world where bad Superman wins.
We Are Kenya is working to figure out how to increase our food budget so that our kids, and their community, can continue to eat healthy each day. However, this is not just a Provision Academy issue. This is an East Africa issue. Next Sunday (8/28/11), Grace Community Church (www.gcconline.org) will be raising money to buy food to package to send over to East Africa. Not only are they raising money, they are packaging the food as well. Please visit their website if you’d like to become involved. Or, find a church in your area doing the same thing. If you can’t find one, talk to your church about this issue and start a food campaign yourself.
The next time you eat at Chipotle, or drive by one, or just hear the word “chipotle”, say a prayer for those who don’t have the ability to eat whatever, whenever. Help us to make sure that the world we know is not a world in which Bizarro Superman EVER wins.
Michelle