Strangely it did not seem harsh everywhere at all Helen. There were beggars in the larger cities, but as a whole they seemed less desperate and in better health than the NYC homeless of the mid 80s. Substinence farming can certainly be hard - especially in the south where it is drier - but the vegetables on display in the markets were lovely. The meat was not refrigerated, but was certainly all fresh, and chicken was available "on the hoof" everywhere. I spoke for a while with a Chicagoan there with the Peace Corps, he has been in country for 18 months, and lives in a stick/thatch hut a 3 hour canoe ride from the nearest ox cart path, a full day from a road. He said he has never been healthier, he eats fresh food every day, including fish moments from the sea. But, there certainly are plenty of people eating rice and some few vegetables 90% of the time, and I saw plenty of kids who looked sick. Winter everywhere does bring illness. The cities surely were the harshest places.
I would love to return for a longer time Hogarth, feel like I only got a taste of the place.
