The Heskas in South Sudan: Rainy Season

Rainy season is upon us! We’ve only had two heavy rains, that too in our first two weeks back, but it has definitely been an adjustment! This is only the beginning as we have heard that the rainy season lasts till October!

I vividly remember our first heavy rainfall. I was at home, Rachel was napping on our bed, and David was at a neighbouring NGO. The downpour was not gradual and it was quite the noisy affair between thunder and pounding of rain on our roof. One of our windows popped off, and water was pouring in from the panel sides. Within a matter of minutes, our whole house was in puddles. Thankfully, our concrete floors are very absorbent, and the water was getting absorbed by the floor. The rain lasted half an hour and then the sun was out. David came running home and I showed him all the points where I saw water coming in from. We started mopping and soaking up all the puddles with old cloths and a mop. Our teammates were over too, with mops and rags ready to help us and our neighbours get our prefabs dried up. David spent the week, caulking all the points where I saw water coming from.

Team mates ready to help clean post rain

The second big rainfall was at night, exactly a week later, while I was watching a movie and I literally couldn’t hear the movie. David and I couldn’t even hear each other due to the sheer volume of the rain on our roof. It was another night of mopping and wringing water into buckets and more troubleshooting as to where the water was coming from.

2 hours of mopping

Since then, we’ve had a few rainfalls, and water is now only seeping in through the sides, but the puddles have gone! I am very thankful for a husband who has worked very hard to make our home safe and secure. I’ve also realized that you can never have too many mops and buckets here in South Sudan! Good rainboots are also a must!

Our rainboots

Taking off the mud with the mud scraper

Rainy season also brings with it an increase in snake activity. So far there I almost stepped on a baby snake while hanging laundry and a baby snake was found in our teammates house. A lot of people are also getting ill with water borne diseases and malaria. The city water definitely looks dirtier this season, and I have to clean our water filter every week as opposed to every month in the dry season.

All the dirt from our filter candles

The water table has also risen in our pit latrine, and that means a rise in the contents of the pit latrine. Enough said! Our laundry has also been taking longer to dry.

While there has also been an increase in flies and bugs, I have also seen beautiful butterflies flitting around. I would much rather the butterflies in our house and pit than the flies and various bugs.

We’ve also been getting watermelon in the market! I love watching boats go by with the watermelons on the Nile. The sad thing is that the Melut market is getting very sparse on items as roads are getting muddier.

Enjoying watermelon

Watermelon on little bamboo boats

Everyone on campus is fully utilizing the moist soil on campus. It really does get muddy and sticky during the rains and it feels like you’re wearing heavy shackles as you try to walk on campus with the rainboots as the mud really sticks! The students are anticipating more rain as they work on their garden, excitedly planting greens, okra and corn.