Water Irony

The past month that I have been back in Fiji has been rainy season. You can't comprehend this concept unless you have lived in a tropical area, particularly one with sub-par infrastructure. It rains. A shitload. When you step outside its like being under a waterfall. Solid water pouring from the sky. An umbrella is not of much use as it is raining so incredibly hard that the raindrops bounce up at least a foot when they hit the ground and soak you from the bottom up anyway. Add to that unavoidable puddles, drains-cum-rivers, muddy thong flick up the back of the legs/but/back, leaking roofs, windows and buses. Getting wet is inevitable. But its not the getting wet that is the problem, in fact it is often welcomingly refreshing. Its the being wet that is problematic. Just ask any AYAD in Suva how many times they have been to the doctor/hospital for a skin infection/ boil/ festering wound/ lung infection etc etc. I believe this is a result of being constantly and unavoidably damp all. the. time. The humidity, rain and lack of sunshine accumulate to ensure your skin is always damp, your clothes never dry and your sheets are moist when you go to bed at night. Uncomfortable to say the least. Fortunately this is not the case in beautiful Ba (aka the burning west). In Ba we get a lot of unfathomably intense sunshine, so much so that by the time you have finished hanging your clothes on the line the first items you pegged up are already dry. Lucky us right! Unfortunately Ba only works in extremes, and although it may be stinking hot and dry most of the time, when it rains it does much more than pour. The result? Flooding. Serious, serious, flooding.

In the past month alone Ba has had one major flood, affecting the entire town and a number of smaller floods affecting localised areas. Afternoon thunderstorms can cause torrential down pours leading to flash flooding. I experienced this earlier this week when a river suddenly appeared across the road and the bus I was traveling in just stopped and a line of traffic formed until about 20min later one car decided to risk it, made it, and everyone else followed. On other occasions at the first sign of rain school will be cancelled to ensure the children make it home before the rivers rise and they are stranded on the wrong side. On other days classes are cancelled because the rain is so heavy it drowns out all other sounds and the teachers cant be heard.

Luckily, due to the small matter of missing my plane from beautiful Taveuni one day, and being stranded for an additional 5 days until the next plane came to rescue us, I missed the BIG flood.  During this flood our suburb turned into an island and the  rest of town turned into a river. People were panic buying from the few supermarkets and corner stores that were not underwater.  Electricity and water were wiped out. And Amy declared floods the most boring natural disaster.

Saviour plane arrives in Taveuni!

Ba - 3 days post flood, Market, town and many suburbs and fields still inundated

flooding in nearby town

the water level was up to the roof of the fish market (see mud still stuck in flyscreen)

town was covered in slippery, slimy, smelly mud

a river that no longer meandered

mud

Ba has still not completely recovered from the flood. There are many children who have not returned to school as bridges to their villages have been wiped out, others have not returned to their homes as they are filled with mud and there is no water to wash it out.  Water and electricity are irregular but improving. Tap water is no longer safe to drink. The major supermarkets are still half empty (the bottom half), on evacuation alert. The market is almost deserted as not only are farmers unable to travel to town but their crops have been wiped out too.  Cases of waterborne diseases including typhoid, leptospirosis and dengue fever are being reported (as tea room gossip) everyday.  The bus trip to Lautoka is a completely new experience as the hillsides have transformed into a series of landslides, waterfalls have appeared in new locations and villages along the way are abuzz with mud shoveling, repair works and crowds of locals on river level watch.  Ba is a wonderful community and everyone has pitched in in what ever way they can and things will be back to normal in no (Fiji)time at all (lets hope that is in my time). In the mean time I can just keep filling old water bottles with water for a rainy day (literally) and enjoy watching the teachers jump and cover their ears whenever they hear a clap of thunder. :)



And here is an equation for the irony of water in Fiji

Too much water = floods = broken infrastructure = no water =
- no showers
- no washing clothes
- no washing dishes
- no drinking from the tap
- no washing surfaces
- NO FLUSHING THE TOILET


Enjoy hopping into your cosy bed tonight in your clean pj's after a steamy shower and a calming cup of tea.

xx