Rain, rain and more rain

It rained last night – a lot, and for a long time.

I think the bullfrogs knew what was coming – I’ve never known them so loud out here – and therefore maybe the locals, on hearing the bullfrog chorus, also knew what to expect. 

But even so, it rained long and it rained hard. And as I lay awake listening to the rain drumming down, my mind wandered to the various conversations that have occurred about rain these past few weeks that I’ve been in Uganda.

-       -  The rains are crazy

-       -  Too much rain

-       - Rains are at the wrong times

-       -  How do we know when it is the right rains for planting our seeds

-        - I’ve lost my bean harvest because it rained for too much

-        - Now is the time to plant beans, but the rains this year are too many

-        - The rains are all wrong because the priests didn’t sacrifice enough cows

-        - Why are the rains so wrong in Uganda

-        - We have to put out extra buckets at night as the holes in the roof are bigger and the rains are more

And so it goes on.

I know we need rain – it’s what keeps the world alive.

And I know sometimes it has to rain long and hard. And the Ugandans know that as well. But over the generations they have settled into a farming cycle that works with the normal pattern of rainy seasons and dry seasons, and what they are noticing, is that that pattern is no longer normal. Gone are the days when they can predict when to plant, and as a result vital foods and vital income is being lost.

It’s the same in many other countries and is a massive conundrum that farmers the world over are having to deal with as a result of climate change. But here in Uganda, where their footprint on the world is actually very small, and where the contribution they have made to climate change is pretty minimal – here the farmers are really struggling.

Yes I knew all this before, none of it is really new to me. Climate change is a daily news item and I fully believe in it – there’s no ‘fake news’ element in it as far as I’m concerned. But when you lie in bed, thinking of all the people you’ve met over the past few days, and the sense of despair that they will be having in the pit of their stomach as they listen to the rain pouring down again – washing the seeds away, coming in through cracks in the walls or holes in the roof – well I guess it brings it all much closer.

My response – what are the extra steps I can take, to reduce my footprint on the world?What more can I do, to try and reduce my carbon emissions and slow down the effects of climate change?

By the way, the irony of saying that whilst sitting in a country where I have had to fly here and back is not lost on me don’t worry – yes I do carbon offset, and am exploring ways to do that even more effectively.