Rainy season

I am writing this as thunder rumbles in the distance and the rain pours down outside. It's the middle of the rainy season in Chad and a stark contrast to the hot season of just a couple of months ago. The country desperately needs the rain - it means the crops will grow and, maybe, not so many people will go hungry this year - but it also causes major disruption.

The rains usually start towards the end of June or the beginning of July and for the first few weeks the pattern will be of a heavy downpour for an hour or so one day and then it will not rain again for several days. As the year moves on into August the frequency and intensity of the rain increases and more and more it will rain for most of the day, with the heavy showers interspersed with lighter ones. The more it rains the more saturated the ground becomes and the inadequate drainage just cannot cope with the volume of water. Anywhere the ground is slightly lower than the surrounding area quickly becomes a lake and there are not enough dry days between the rainy ones for the water to go down.

Most people's homes are inadequate to handle the rain and it is all too common to hear that someone's roof has collapsed, their walls have fallen down or the water has caused a 'river' that has poured inside. There is more sickness at this time of the year as people live in damp and insanitary conditions and the pools of water provide an ideal breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquito.

If it rains first thing in the morning you can be sure that most people will be late for work. If they are not having to sort out the problems the rain has caused to their homes then their journey to work will have been disrupted by flooded roads or broken down transport. Or they just won't have wanted to leave home while it was raining so heavily because they don't possess the usual means to keep dry (raincoat, boots or an umbrella). In East Africa a common site during the rain is seeing someone with a plastic carrier bag on their head in an attempt to keep a bit dry. But plastic bags have been banned in Chad so even that is not an option here.

The rainy season does at least offer some respite from the intense heat of April, May and June. According to the BBC Weather website it is currently 30C, with expected lows this week of around 24C. Trust me - after 40C+ temperatures this actually feels cool!

The children who live on the compound probably enjoy the rain the most. Unencumbered by concerns about whether the roof will leak they put on their swimming costumes, or strip down to their underwear, and carry on playing outside, squealing with delight as they splash through the puddles and get completely soaked.

The view from my kitchen window this afternoon

The rain pours off the roof - guttering doesn't seem to exist in Chad!