Rains in Africa

Toto may have been on to something with the line "I bless the rains down in Africa" in their ever-so-popular 80's hit "Africa."

 

Rains in Senegal. Note flooding streets! Source: www.listentoafrica.com 

I grew up in the heartland of America loving the crack of thunder and bright lightening that accompanied the sudden summer storm. After living in the Dominican Republic, I grew to both despise and appreciate the "lluvia rapida"- a brief stint of a super hard rain for 5-10 minutes that would only give a brief respite to the otherwise constant 99% humidity.


Growing up in Illinois, we did not have a "rainy season"; I learned about the "April showers that bring May flowers" but never have I experienced rain like that of rain in Africa. Parts of sub-Saharan Africa have one or two periods per year of a rainy or wet season. Areas in the tropics or sub-tropics usually have rainy seasons (but then again I guess Seattle, WA, in the USA does too!). In Ethiopia (where I've been for the last week and a half), the is the seasons are largely defined by rainfall, with a dry season from October–February, a light rainy season from March–May, and a heavy rainy season from June–September. Lucky for me, I'm here during the dry season where we're blessed with 70 degree temps during the day, 50's at night, and nearly 10 hours of sunshine!

These rains can be devastating especially given the lack of modern drainage and sewer systems. Roads flood and become impassable, traffic comes to a standstill, and homes constructed of wood or clay with tin or thatch roofs take an incredible beating. Rain also means malaria. Mosquitoes breed in standing water; therefore, countries usually see spikes in malaria cases during the rainy season For the work that I do in supply chain management, some health facilities lose their access to regular re-supplying of medications and supplies (such as malaria tests and medications) and have to plan in advance of the rainy season.

Rainy season in Uganda. Source: Doctors without Borders http://blogs.msf.org/eamonnv/tag/children/

Even in the dry season there might be an occasional rain. This Thursday was just such a day. The clouds rolled in and the rain started beating down on the roof of the hotel where we were conducting a training in a top floor conference room.  The rainfall was so loud and so heavy I could hardly hear
my co-facilitator. Here's what the view out the window looked like at the height of the rain and then about 20 minutes later.

In the meantime, I am going to relish the "dry" season in Ethiopia. While the rain can be devastating, rain is also Mother Nature's thirst quencher. You know that amazing smell of the air after a hard rain....a clean fresh with slight hint of mineral. One of the purest scents on the earth.

So while it is easy to curse the rain when you're getting drenched by a car running through a puddle or stuck in good ol' Africa traffic due to a flooded road, we also bless those african (and midwestern!) rains just like Toto said. Because so much of our earth needs to big gulp of H2O to keep life moving.

Rainy season in Mali. Source: http://www.fbckellermissions.org/topics/mali/page/8/