- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- We are having a bountiful rainy season this year; the
type that we haven't seen for many years. It's the kind of rainy season
that I remember from when I was a teenager where I got wet on the way to
school in the morning, again at lunchtime or on the way to sports in the
afternoon, and yet again on the way home at dusk. This is the rainy season
that Zimbabwe so desperately needs to fill the rivers dams and lakes and
replenish the ground water to revive springs, wells and boreholes. It's
the kind of rainy season which reminds us that life in Africa is tough
and dramatic - it's hot, humid, tropical and conditions can change in a
very short space of time: a rising river, flooded bridge or tar that simply
subsides into the sand.
-
- The rains have bought great infestations of insects and
sand fleas; there are more slugs and snails than seem physically possible
and then there are the insects with the unimposing title of Giant Water
Bugs which really are the stuff of nightmares. These fearsome brown creatures
are four inches long, have large shiny eyes, give off an absolutely foul
smell if you touch or squash them and have a frightening pair of grasping
front legs. Apparently the water bugs attack tadpoles and small fish and
inflict a painful wound if you hold them - not that anyone would want to
do that - surely!
-
- This abundant rainy season is making the grass grow faster
than you can cut it and making the weeds grow even faster still. The sedges
are thick, shiny and lush; the khaki bush tall and distinctly aromatic;
the black jacks prolific and covered with a myriad black seeds reaching
out to stick on anything that comes too near. There are snakes in the thick
undergrowth this season too, prolific even in suburban gardens: green,
black and brown ones and others that are distinctly identifiable: Egyptian
cobras, burrowing adders and grass snakes.
-
- This is the kind of rainy season where it seems the news
from the farmers should be good. In fact every night on the State propaganda
come the jingles and video clips bragging that this is: "The Mother
Of All Seasons." The news starting to come from small farmers in the
rural areas is not good though. They didn't have enough seed in the first
place and negligible amounts of fertilizer.
-
-
- One rural farmer I met spoke of the part of his crop
on high ground being OK but desperately in need of fertilizer to feed the
developing maize cobs. He said there was no fertilizer to be found - even
if he had the money to buy it. He said that the maize lower down the slope
was a complete write off. It was knee high and yellow and inundated with
water. Water which bubbled up from underground, which poured down as rain
and which rushed down the fields as run off, not even slowed by contours
which are no longer built or maintained and no longer exist.
-
-
- When I asked the man what the outlook for his whole
crop was, he said it was bleak. He doubted it would produce enough food
for his family for even three months. He asked me if I thought international
donors would be coming soon to help the people in rural areas with food;
he said many people were already in need. He said that by March there would
be a few cobs of green maize to eat straight from the field but by the
winter months (June and July) for sure people would be starving. Is this
the reason why Zanu PF are adamant that elections be held in March?
-
-
- Until next time, thanks for reading,
-
-
- love cathy.
-
-
- Copyright cathy buckle 19 January 2008 www.cathybuckle.com
My books: "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available
in South Africa from: <mailto:books@clarkesbooks.co.za>books@clarkesbooks.co.za
and in the UK from: <mailto:orders@africabookcentre.com>orders@africabookcentre.com
To subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter, please write to: <mailto:cbuckle@mango.zw>cbuckle@mango.zw
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