What comes with the rain

It's amazing the change that happens when the rains come. Rainy season here in Kabwe lasts for a few months. Dry and hot for the majority of the year and then suddenly the skies open up and the event we have been praying for happens. The rains have come.

This was a very wet rainy season. Places flooded, houses were swamped, my abandoned swimming pool began to fill up. That last result of the rain brought a few unwanted guests, namely, mosquitoes, hundreds of frogs and a water monitor who loved the readily available supply of frogs. I would exit my back door and find him swimming in the pool, swallowing the smaller frogs.

The rains also made things grow. The recently planted maize fields doubled in height. Plants grew, flowers came out. Things grew everywhere. Which might sound amazing. And it was...mostly...

One thing that began growing in my house was mould. I discovered that in the strong rains, my back door leaked and I had a mini padding pool in my bedroom. With all the rain everyday, it became very difficult to keep my bedroom aired and dry, and so the mould came. When I came back from a week in Mpulungu, Lake Tanganyika, it was terrible. It had grown on my walls, cupboards, clothes, jewellery, couches, pillows...pretty much everywhere! Disgusting.

I spent the next week de-moulding everything. I rubbed my hands raw hand-washing my clothes before a neighbour kindly offered for me to do the last remaining big items in her washing machine. Life saver. I scrubbed my floors, and walls and furniture and soaked things in tea tree oil or vinegar. I also varnished my wardrobe to try and keep the mould out. Every moment I could, I had the doors and windows open to try and air the place out, and slowly I began to get on top of it.

Well, the rainy season is over. So far, no more mould for which I am grateful. But I am also equally grateful for the rains. They are desperately needed and the amount we had this season will go a long way towards filling up the wells, lakes and dams.