COLUMN: I think we should appease the gods of rain

Dear nephew Milambo

GREETINGS from this land where electricity is becoming a rare commodity by the day.

My dear son, I hope that by the grace of Limatunda you and your family are all doing fine, and all the people of my beloved Ukumbisiganga.

I hope the ancestors have been watching over all of you, especially at this time when the gods of rain are furious with us, unleashing enough rain to last some of us a lifetime.

Here in the city things are not much different my dear boy, because for the last two or three days the gods of rain have been pounding us without any sign of mercy.

We thank Liwelelo that despite the heavy rains, I have not heard any report of people losing their lives or being injured, but I am sure if things continue this way, I am afraid it is likely people will be hurt.

The rain which pounded two days ago found me and your aunt outside the house, we were coming from a funeral of a friend who had lost his son in a grisly accident.

My dear nephew, I can assure you that if it was not for the powerful protection of Liwelelo and the Nyamwezi ancestors, we would have become past tense.

The rain was pounding mercilessly, with your aunt behind the wheel. It reached a point the wipers of the vehicle were overwhelmed, which is very dangerous, so I told your aunt to park the car and we wait for the rain to subside, but you know how stubborn your aunt is, she said she was okay.

One thing your aunt always forgets is that she is no longer a young woman, age has caught up with her, just the way it has caught up with me, therefore her eye sight is not as good as it used to be, but that seems to elude her.

I told her that problems with night vision are common among seniors like us, although no driver wants to hear that they can no longer get behind the wheel due to age-related issues.

I always tell her that good eyesight is essential for safe driving, because as far as I know, research shows that older people experience diminished vision at night as part of the natural aging process.

Anyway, we were driving on a stretch of road where the number of cars was little, and your aunt decided to step on the accelerator.

I think she was doing around 90 or 100 kilometres per hour and she failed to see the water covering the road ahead of her, so she entered it with a great splash, which made the car to veer dangerously.

My dear nephew, at that moment I can swear I could hear the voices of the ancestors welcoming me to join them, I was really shaken.

Your aunt was also shaken, that is why a few metres ahead when we came across a petrol station, she decided to park the car there and wait for the rain to subside.

Though it can be scary and dangerous to drive in such conditions, driving at safe speeds and being prepared with working windshield wipers and headlights can help increase your visibility on the road and prevent something like what happened to us.

But I thank Limatunda that we reached home safely, and I decided to stick at home the next day because the weather was still the same, raining heavily most of the time.

In two days’ time we are supposed to go and pick our new adopted daughter my dear nephew, so it means now we will become new parents at a very old age.

I am excited about this new stage of our lives my dear boy, but I have to confess to you as I told you before, it also scares me like crazy.

I just pray to Limatunda that everything will go well, although we can never hide the fact that we will not have enough time with the new member of the Nyamwezi tribe, because am sure by the time she reaches maturity, me or your aunt might long be gone.

When we went to see the child the first time, they told us that the mother of the child, who is unknown, abandoned the baby and it was found by a good Samaritan almost two days after it was abandoned.

I still don’t understand how someone can carry a pregnancy to full term, the whole nine months, and then decide to abandon the baby when it is born.

The matron at the adoption centre however told us that according to their experience, they discovered that primary causes of child abandonment include poverty or financial hardship.

She said that in some cases, being a single parent, post-natal depression, mental illness, a lack of sexual health education, poor knowledge regarding family planning and restrictions regarding access to abortion can also be some of the causes.

But whatever the reason the mother of our new baby had of abandoning her baby, we thank Limatunda that it gave us the opportunity of bringing her up in a good environment.

You should see your aunt my dear son, even when she is walking you would think she is floating, I can confidently say that I have never seen her this happy for a long time.

When you come over for Christmas, you will be surprised how she has managed to transform the room next to ours, which is the new baby room.

Can you imagine she even brought in a very expensive interior designer from town who took almost three days to transform the room, and your aunt spent a small fortune to furnish that room.

But I am also glad because for a woman, the presence of a baby, and in your aunt’s case a baby girl, makes them feel alive and gives them a new purpose in life.

I am sure as long as Limatunda grants us life, that baby will be spoiled in a big way, which is not a bad thing if you ask me, because I think at our age it will be the appropriate thing to do.

My dear son, let me pen off here because I somehow feel sleepy, the weather outside is not that friendly, which is perfect for a good nap.

Say hallo to your family and all folks in my beloved Ukumbisiganga.