Good morning again,
On April 26-28, the Automatic digest processor reported about cannibalism and hunger
Jorge by way of Dean Esmay <[log in to unmask]> wrote a line among others :
> Canniabalism are "aberrant" human behavior for us, and we prefer
> think others posibilities.
and completed with
> Thought for food?
May I briefly comment, from a different background, and illustrate this with a rather modern case :
Well, "aberrant" may be as understood in today's over-fed Western Societies. I was born and raised in Central
Africa, and escaped (thank to my Parents) to horrors and savageries of both war and starvation, i.e. hunger
plus famine. Sadly enough, other friends, many from childhood time, did not have that "luck", including in the
present wars and starvations prevailing once again in Central Africa.
Here is a relevant and "1997" news about cannibalism and hunger, as "experienced" in another far remote corner
of our world, by some other "humans", that may be instructive in terms of "thought for food?"
The source of that article is WORLDWIDE REUTERS, dd 04/28/97, and is available today at URL site
http://www.agriculture.com/worldwide/AgricultureFarming/04_28_1997.reute-story-bckoreahunger.html
Title : North Koreans fear cannibalism amid hunger
BEIJING, April 28 (Reuter) - Hunger in North Korea is forcing peasants to sell clothes for food, to sneak
into China to steal animal feed and even to delay burials to prevent cannibalism, visitors to the border said
on Monday.
However, many North Koreans are so terrified of official retribution they dare not cross into China over
the border that is marked in part of northern Jilin province by a shallow river that can be waded easily.
``The situation in North Korea is very bad,'' one recent visitor to the Jilin border town of Yanji quoted
an ethnic Korean salesgirl as saying.
``There is only corn to eat and very little of that,'' said the woman, who recently visited her sister who
lives across the border in the Stalinist hermit state. ``People have to sell their clothes to get the money to
buy food.''
The north of the country has been hardest hit by floods that wiped out crops for two consecutive years.
Pyongyang has appealed for food aid but has not allowed aid officials to the region and last week
prevented workers of World Vision International, a Christian charity that has worked in North Korea since 1995,
from touring the region.
Chinese in Yanji who have frequent contacts with the North said the situation appeared to be
deteriorating.
One recent sign was the decision by some North Korea peasants to delay the burial of their dead for fear
the bodies would be dug up and eaten by other hungry farmers, a recent visitor quoted Yanji residents as
saying.
Farmers now kept their dead in their homes until the corpse began to putrefy before burying it to prevent
cannibalism, several Chinese residents said.
For those desperate enough to sneak across the border and through North Korea's security net, punishment
can be brutal and swift, Chinese and ethnic Koreans told recent visitors.
Few make the journey because of the security and restrictions on obtaining visas, Yanji residents said.
Those who do are quickly spotted by a network of North Korean spies based in China who round up the
escapees as illegal immigrants and force them back across the border, they said.
Punishment is swift.
``The North Korean police put a metal wire through the nose of some people who escape,'' the visitor
quoted one Yanji resident as saying. ``It's like a brand that marks them out.''
Even children are not exempt.
``We can hear the screams of children when they put the metal wire through their nose because they do it
as soon as they cross into North Korea and the border is very close,'' the Yanji resident was quoted as saying.
``They don't dare to carry out this punishment in China but as soon as they are back in North Korea they
can do what they want,'' he was quoted as saying.
Many of those who flee into China do little more than slip into local cattlesheds to steal animal feed to
eat and then sneak back into the North, Yanji residents said. Residents said they turned a blind eye out of
sympathy.
Dean Hirsch, president of World Vision International, said last week that recent tours of two rural
counties near the capital, Pyongyang, convinced him that North Korea may be only 90 days away from starvation.
Repeated international appeals for food aid -- the latest being a U.N. World Food Programme appeal for
$95.5 million -- have drawn only a lukewarm response amid fears the food aid will go to Pyongyang's military.
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors
or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
@g Worldwide | @griculture Online | Canada @griculture Online | Farmers Weekly Interactive | Interfax News
Agency
End of article.
Hunger and sadness look universal.
When we were kids, we had a joke:
- "Do you know why there are no more cannibals?"
- "Well, yesterday, I ate the last one..."
Regards,
Luc
--
Luc De Bry, Ph.D.; Head of Research Department; DANONE BISCUITS NORTH
De Beukelaer-Pareinlaan 1; B-2200 Herentals - Belgium
Tel. 32 (0)14 241432; Fax 32 (0)14 241025; Email : [log in to unmask]
URL Site http://www.danonegroup.com
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