On March 3, 2023, the weather turned. Heavy downpours during the night left no doubt, the rainy season has begun!
Two years ago, major problems arose in South Sudan, as well as in Uganda and Kenya, due to the large amounts of rain during the rainy season (from March to July). Large lakes in Uganda have been flooded and the consequences are still visible. In Mundri County, things are not too bad given the somewhat higher location.
On April 24, a lot of rain fell and in the town of Mundri a violent storm caused a lot of misery. Entire houses (tukuls or grass huts) have been washed away and some large mango trees have fallen on houses and motorbikes. In Lui only a few people lost their tukul house, here the damage was considerably less.
Meanwhile, the rains seem to be abating a bit now. It rains all day two to three days a week. The other days it is relatively quiet.
But it is of course not only misery that the rain brings. Because the traditional clearcutting by means of burning nature has now stopped, many animals and plants are given a chance again. African snails and many insects are returning. Unfortunately, there are now many cases of malaria again and many people die because of shortness of breath or kidney failure.
The grass is growing everywhere again, still modestly now, but in the coming months it will grow faster and faster. If the grass is too high, it becomes dangerous to walk through. You no longer see the wild animals coming and that can be deadly. At a height of one meter, schools are shut down and people prefer to stay around their homes. This will be the case in about a month.
For now, we mainly enjoy the new green with which the region seems to be flooded. Besides the grass, the crops grow well. Groundnut plants are doing very well and the papayas also grow quickly. Beautiful fresh grass symbolizes new life. New life gives hope and we can use that in beautiful South Sudan.
