January 24
“When it rains, it pours.”
This expression must have been coined in Malawi. The one thing this country has no trouble with (and let’s face it, they have a few) is rain. Wet season here – and admittedly this year has been a particularly saturated affair – comes as a veritable deluge that blankets Blantyre in a matter of seconds on an almost daily basis. You go from bone dry to wringing water from your clothes in well under a minute if you’re unfortunate enough to get stuck in it. An umbrella, even for the poorest of families, seems to be a sheer necessity of life. Rivers appear on steps and roads dive a foot underwater before your eyes; potholes grow larger by the day and roof tiling wilts under the sheer force of the downpours. It is little wonder that the crops here grow as wildly as they do for the wettest months of November through February. The problem this year with the rain being so heavy, is that if it continues in this vain for much longer the maize will soon rot, providing just as much suffering as the famine-provoking drier years. Not something the general population, nor the already overburdened medical system, needs.
This expression must have been coined in Malawi. The one thing this country has no trouble with (and let’s face it, they have a few) is rain. Wet season here – and admittedly this year has been a particularly saturated affair – comes as a veritable deluge that blankets Blantyre in a matter of seconds on an almost daily basis. You go from bone dry to wringing water from your clothes in well under a minute if you’re unfortunate enough to get stuck in it. An umbrella, even for the poorest of families, seems to be a sheer necessity of life. Rivers appear on steps and roads dive a foot underwater before your eyes; potholes grow larger by the day and roof tiling wilts under the sheer force of the downpours. It is little wonder that the crops here grow as wildly as they do for the wettest months of November through February. The problem this year with the rain being so heavy, is that if it continues in this vain for much longer the maize will soon rot, providing just as much suffering as the famine-provoking drier years. Not something the general population, nor the already overburdened medical system, needs.
And the constant rain creates its own difficulties around the house too. Mushrooms growing in the bathroom (okay, maybe we need to look into how that one happened), constant small leaks in the roofing thanks to the old tiling, mould growing insidiously on most of our cane furniture giving the place a decidedly dank smell. Anything and everything is invaded by the humid, musty air that pervades the entire town. Clothes don’t dry for days after washing; mud cakes everything…
And don’t worry Melburnians, they have water restrictions here too. You can only water your garden for two hours a day, three days per week in Blantyre… because every other minute of the day its too bloody wet to venture outside! One just hopes that such a heavy wet season brings with it an early return to the welcome monotony of clear blue skies that grace the country for more than six months each year.
