It's February, so I thought I would write about what happens here in February....rain, lots and lots of rain. For example, yesterday it rained and within an hour, filled up my 60 liter trash barrel.
In America, we call our rainy season "Spring". Trees and flowers begin to blossom, we start shedding our winter wears, and in the evenings, lawn mower engines are humming in every suburban neighborhood. But, in the US (or at least in the South) we typically receive rain all throughout the year.
In Malawi, rainy season is pretty much the only time of year that we receive any type of precipitation (at least in our area). The rains start in November/December and usually finish up around March/April.
A good rainy season is imperative for most Malawians. Malawi is primarily an agriculture community. When the rains are "officially here" you will find the majority of Malawians out in their gardens planting seed. You may see some people plant ground nuts (peanuts), green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. But everyone is planting maize (corn). Maize is the primary ingredient to make Nsima. Nsima is the staple food of Malawi. It is typically eaten with every meal. You can read more about Nsima here. Too much rain or too little rain has life impacting consequences on the people here.
This is our fourth season to be living in Malawi during the rainy season. The first rainy season we were here, it rained off and on. Nothing to extreme from what we were used to living in Arkansas.
The second year, we saw MAJOR rains. As in, rained so hard that the rushing waters took down our 10 foot tall brick wall that had just been constructed in the back of our campus. It rained so hard that many houses and gardens were washed away. A man from a village a mile from our home drowned trying to walk home. The flooding lasted for two weeks and then the rains went away. People tried to replant their gardens, but the rains never returned. The harvests in our area were very small and people went hungry that year. You can read more about how people were effected here.
The third season we were in Malawi, we had a mild rainy season. It would rain for a day and then not rain for two weeks. About the time everyone was chewing their nails that their gardens were going to dry up, another rain would come. Our area had a decent crop, although many parts of Malawi experienced major flooding and then droughts. You can read more here.
This year, we are experiencing rain every day. This has been the pattern since November. The gardens are looking good. The water does not seem to have caused too much damage in our area, although we have heard of flooding in other parts of Malawi.
I had never lived in a country before where the amount of rain received has such life impacting consequences. Too much rains equals the loss of home and garden. Too little rain also means the loss of garden, which is the primary way that people feed themselves for the year. Most Malawians do not have the money to go buy maize if their garden fails. When droughts and flooding happens, the price of maize sky rockets because it becomes a hot commodity.
The first year that we moved here, I was telling one of our staff members about how much I loved rainy season. I loved the sound of rain on the tin roof of our house. I loved the cool down of weather and I especially was in awe over the beautiful sunsets. I loved how everything turns green, the dust disappears and the country is lush and beautiful.
She explained that my experience was somewhat different than our neighbors living around us in the village. Rain doesn't sound pretty on the rooftop when it is leaking through your thatch roof at night when you are sleeping. Rain doesn't seem peaceful when it is rushing through the floor of your hut. A typical Malawian home is made of mud bricks and uses mud instead of concrete to lay the walls. Lots of water = the potential for your house to fall apart each rainy season. I enjoyed rainy season because the amount of rain doesn't effect how much or little I will eat this year.
My perspective was totally different than my neighbors. Which I guess is how this whole ex-pat thing works? We come from different cultures, backgrounds, experiences. We view things through different lenses. Part of the hard and the beauty of living in another country is learning to see the perspective of those you have come to live life with.
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