The Rains Down in Africa

We are currently finishing up the rainy season here in Togo.  Unlike in the States where we have four seasons, in Togo we only have two seasons wet and dry.  The wet season of course means rain and a bit cooler weather.  The rains can be both a curse and a blessing.  With each rainstorm my roof leaks and my floor floods (two issues I am currently trying to resolve—but fixing a roof in the rain isn’t always so simple).  But the rains also cool off a hot day and an early morning rain keeps neighbors inside creating a peace that lets me sleep past six am.

When it rains the whole world stops.  With the first drops everyone flees like cats facing a bath to the nearest shelter and no one budges until the rain stops.  Rain or shine in the US you are expected to get to your appointments on time, but here rain halts all business.  If you have a meeting it’s cancelled, or at least won’t start until a good while after the rain stops.

I’ve been given the excuses that umbrellas and rain jackets aren’t available here so no one could be expected to walk in the rain, but I don’t buy it—those things are available here if you choose to buy them.  There are good excuses though why the rainy season is known for its lack of productivity.  When it rains transportation is very limited.  Motos are absolutely miserable and unsafe in the heavy downpours and of the cars available they rarely have windshield wipers that work and the windows are perpetually stuck down.  Being in a taxi where the driver is reaching out his window to wipe the muddy cracked windshield with rag in the rain is an experience that can leave you fearing for your own life and especially for those poor souls who happen to sharing the road.

The roads themselves also suffer.  After a rainstorm roads and bridges are washed away and the unpaved roads are turned into mud.  The flooding after the rains can also impede travel making roads completely impassable.  In training we were warned about this and told to work our project schedules around the rainy season, because, while the rains can be beautiful and provide a well appreciated reprieve, in a flash all the big plans of construction or those meetings you had can be washed away thanks to a bit of precipitation.