Rainy Season in Namibia #blesstherainsinAfrica

The Rainy Season in Namibia

#blesstherainsinAfrica

When I stepped off the plane in Namibia 5 months ago, my first thought (other than: “I can’t believe that I’m going to be living in a place that most of my friends and family can’t pronounce for 2 years”), was “Namibia is actually a desert”. During the dry season, this country gets really really dry, like endless sand all around and every drop of sweat almost immediately evaporates. I thought this would be my life for the next 2 years, but I was completely wrong. Because Zambezi Region is located in the upper east corner of Namibia, we are considered to be the greenest part of Namibia, however when I arrived in October the only green I saw was some very tiny unripe mangoes in trees and a few dying palm trees. The first few months at site felt just as dry as during my training and then the first week of December it hit: the first drizzle which marked the beginning of the rainy season. I was so excited by the first drizzle that I prayed for more and more rain to come every day. After that, we went about a week without a seeing a single droplet and then one evening they came in with a bang (quite literally, because a lightning strike knocked out my electricity), a torrential downpour that continued for almost 3 days straight. Since then, the rain has continued almost every day and I completely understand why the ideas of rainy season and dry season are so distinct here. Overnight grass began to sprout and within a few weeks my desert looking village turned into a jungle with grass up to your knees.

Mbili having one of her first experiences with grass

The rain here has many meanings. The majority of people in my region and throughout Namibia rely on agriculture as a means of sustenance living. In my village specifically, most people don’t have any sort of formal employment but instead survive based on the food they grow or fish they catch, making little money by selling excess. That being said, the beginning of the rainy season means it’s time to plow and plant crops for the year. This conveniently falls during the holiday season so everyone returns to the villages and the whole family from age 2 to 92 is in the fields preparing the soil for planting. When the rains come late, plowing begins late which can cause food insecurity and famines in areas who need the crops to survive.

Typical morning in town

Rain also means flooding. Overnight, a lake can appear outside your house or a road turns into a river that can’t be crossed. Dirt paths to homes can completely disappear and some places can be unreachable by car (good thing there are canoes). Luckily the sandy soil helps the water to drain quickly so the flooding is very temporary. When the water begins to recede, the new challenge becomes walking. I often have to try to guess how deep a puddle is and a few times I have miss-stepped and had to trek through over a foot of water. On the bright side, Mbili Mbili is getting some practice swimming. The muddy terrain everywhere has also been a challenge but after a period of wiping out on a daily basis, I’ve managed to limit myself to only slipping once a week.

Living in a hut has also been quite interesting during the rains. Because my house is made of mud, I can tell exactly how much rain we’ve had based on the erosion to my outdoor walls. The expanding and shrinking of my door from the weather will make my door unable to shut or open as it no longer fits in the door frame. In the past month, I’ve broken off the door handle and created new cracks in the mud which crumble a bit more every time I attempt to slam my door. My zinc roof amplifies the sound of a light drizzle to a monsoon so I always have a warning when it is beginning to rain. Luckily for me, the pounding of the rain has become calming to me at night so I can fall asleep even if the storm is as loud as a rock concert. During heavy rains my house begins to leak from the roof, water falls from the walls and my floor floods. As long as I move my stuff out of the way, my hut basically cleans itself. Despite all the craziness from the rain, the mud huts are resoundingly durable structures and easy to repair. The biggest issue I have is from the insane humidity inside which I can’t escape. After washing my clothes, I have to hang dry them inside my house to dry which can take anywhere from 2-4 days. Recently my phone has gotten water damage from the humidity and is so affected that I have to put my iphone in rice overnight for it to work the next day. Rain also means I don’t have to fetch water or rinse dishes. I can simply stick my wash buckets outside and allow them to fill for me. Because of the weather, the power in my village goes out on a daily basis and can be out for anywhere from a few seconds to the entire day. I have been learning to keep my electronics fully charged and am very grateful for my gas stove which allows me to cook in all conditions. 

Water gets into the huts very easily

Rainy season also means mango season! The mangoes are all over Katima and every household has at least one mango tree. Everywhere you go you can find women selling thousands of mangoes in the street and at every home you visit someone gives you a mango (or a bag of mangoes) as a gift. I’ve learned maybe 10 different ways to eat a mango and have had entire days living just off of mangoes (definitely had my fill of sugar for awhile).

The only truly bad thing about the rainy season is that the rain brings along with it snakes and mosquitoes. I have seen more snakes in the last month than I ever want to see in life. Thankfully, Namibians hate snakes as much as me so the second anyone says snake or noha in Silozi, 10 boys will come out of nowhere with machetes and sticks ready to kill it. The mosquitos come out in the evenings ready to buzz in your ear and bite you. I am taking all the precautions to avoid malaria and mosquito bites with bug spray, mosquito nets and prophylaxis medication.

One of the really interesting things about Namibia is that the idea of climate change is considered undeniable. The climate here is extremely affected by the slightest changes and thus everyone has seen the direct impact it has on their lives. The past few years, Namibia has been dealing with a severe drought and in the majority of communities water is literally an issue of life or death. Whether it be from dry taps or lack of ground water, some can go weeks without access to drinking water or be unable to support crops needed to survive. Although the rainy season comes with its own set of challenges, it is so necessary and meaningful to the lives of my community and this country. Toto really was right when they said “I bless the rains down in Africa” and I will never take this beautiful resource, we as Americans so easily access, for granted again.