Wicked Mother Nature

Here in the sub-tropics Mother Nature is the downside of being a volunteer in Mozambique. The people are wonderful, the work is interesting, the infrastructure is an experience, but the weather in the south is miserable. My villa, Magude, is ending the season in a drought for the second year.

First the heat is a bit extreme; the past month has a daily average of 100 f /39.5 c temperature. Inside the homes are like ovens because of the inexpensive tin roofs, so sitting outside in the shade is a practical option. The fan is a traitor; it just blows the hot air. Because people here are accustomed to it they don’t complain until they enter into a conversation with me, then they giggle and agree that this heat is a killer.

The heat will not kill but the drought will.

The clouds build up, spit, and then pass; or it drizzles for an hour and just clears the dusty air. At this point in the season 2015-2016 ends as another dry rainy season. The chance of the yearly crop production is null - the soil is like sand; and there has been a large loss of chickens, goats, and cattle.

Produce has also declined and skyrocketed in price. Yesterday at the market seeing the sizes and prices of cucumbers and tomatoes, I think local farmers are buying and reselling imports from South Africa to make up for the loss of income.

The river that crosses Magude is called Incomate, and it is the supply of water for the villa. The majority of people are without water facilities in the homes, so the river is used for bathing, supplying drinking and cooking water, washing clothes, and a social venue for the cows (they drink and bathe there as well). Hygiene another issue.

Here are pictures of the river today.

Being an agriculturally based economy without water is a dilemma. Being a human being who needs to eat from the family farm that has not produced is devastating. I have already noted the diminishing weight gain among young children.

Just today after a scorching dry weekend the sick line in the pediatric unit was longer than the monthly check ups line.

Rain, rain, don’t go away. We have been waiting every day. Little Suzy needs to eat; it won’t happen in dry heat.