Rainy Day Blues

The Fall Rainy Season has arrived in the Sassier area, right about on time. Usually, the rains are welcome, as they provide moisture for the crops planted in the September. “The rains bring life,” people say. Good rains now mean a bountiful harvest in January.

	Crops like this one in Sassier have been washed away.

After Hurricane Matthew, these same rains are unwelcome. Crops were already washed away. Homes with no roofs are soaked again. Travel becomes difficult on hilly, muddy roads. Fears of cholera rise as potential for flooding rises.

In Sassier, it rained all day Sunday and intermittently since then. People who had left the shelter of the schools have returned. Their hopes of a quick recovery are being dashed by the reality of another month or so of rainy weather.

• There will be no harvest in January, nor will there be fruit from the trees that have been toppled or stripped of their leaves.
• Clothes won’t dry and what little the people still have may be ruined by prolonged exposure to moisture.
• Flu, bronchitis, pneumonia and other rainy season diseases will threaten children and others already weakened by malnutrition.
• Fear of cholera, which sickened hundreds and killed more than 30 in Sassier a few years ago, is rising. No cases yet, but there are never just one.

The rains make it much harder to move food and other supplies to the Sassier area.  Our large dump truck, which can carry large quantities of food and supplies,  cannot make it up the hill to Sassier until the mud and gravel road dries out. The 4×4 can make the hill, but with fewer provisions on each run. Larger and heavier items must await a several day break in the weather. Multiple 4×4 runs with heavy loads increases fuel usage, as  well as maintenance and repairs on ancient vehicles.

As we stay comfortable, dry and well fed in our homes no matter the weather, please remember our sisters and brothers in Sassier. They need your help and will continue to need it.  Please be generous.  On their behalf, we thank you.

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