Although I lived in Maryland when I was very young, I have mainly lived in Zambia, Kenya, Oklahoma, Texas, and Congo. Where I lived in Zambia is on the border of being a drought area. Most of my friends and neighbors were farmers so we always prayed for rain and thanked God each time it fell. Somehow the beautiful afternoon showers that cooled down the weather always left you wanting a bit more. I then moved to Kenya when it was going through a period of drought. We rejoiced when we would get randomly soaked through and through because the rain was such a blessing. Then I moved to Oklahoma and Texas while they were experiencing drought. The rain seemed to rarely make an appearance and whenever it did I was always grateful. Of course I could have done without the snow.
But now I live in Congo when the rain shows up far too often and seems to accomplish nothing. By the time August comes around there is so much dust everywhere it’s almost unbelievable. Having spent nearly all of my life on the African continent I’ve become well accustomed to dirt and dust, but Congo dirt is special. Somehow there is just more of it and it sticks and clings to you unrelentingly no matter how hard you scrub. I’ve literally walked in dust over a foot deep here. So when September rolls around and we get a few rain showers it’s beautiful. It cools things down, gets rid of the dust, and miraculously turns brown into green nearly everywhere.
October is fine, but there is always a point in November when the rain becomes annoying. Now is that point. It starts to rain through the night and nearly every afternoon. The temperature never seems to get higher than 75 (which over here is winter weather!). We have crazy lightning storms that hit mostly trees but occasionally people. Mud is everywhere! The roads become impassible (even the main highways since they aren’t paved) without 4 wheel drive and even then people are getting stuck everywhere you look.
Then when you don’t think it could get any worse December comes along. It starts to rain some mornings as well as every afternoon and most nights. Usually January seems to be the worst but some times it carries into February. It rains all morning, all afternoon, and all night. We literally had 3 weeks of straight rain last year.
Almost no one in this area is a farmer. Nearly everyone does mining. The rains causes hand dug artisanal pits to collapse killing lots of people. The rains drive up the mining companies’ expenses because the roads cannot transport the minerals they are producing, dilutes acid used for producing hydroxides, and prevents machinery from running safely. People can’t get their clothes dry on a clothes line. Mosquitoes are breading in every nearby puddle taunting us all with their malaria and dengue fever carrying potential. Cholera and typhoid fever break out all over the place due to the water run off spreading sewage. Because people are inside more to avoid the rain colds and the flu spread like wild fire. Satellite internet goes out due to the storms. Our jobs come to a stand still, everyone looses money, people are unhealthy, and it’s just plain miserable.
My wise friend, Albert, a Congolese businessperson, informed me “We have only 2 seasons in Congo, the dust season and the mud season. I don’t know which is worse.” So for the first time in my life I’m hoping the rain will go away! March cannot come soon enough!
