I though it might be interesting for you to get a feeling of what’s going on at this time of year in the North of Mozambique. It will just be a random update as things come to mind!
- We are in the tail end of the wet season. It started late and gave us all a fright thinking we might be in for a tough season – since the start of January the rains have been steady and they are still hanging around. If we can get some good rains in the next few weeks that will help finish things off.
- If the rains are favourable people can sneak two crops of beans in. The first one gets planted usually in December and harvested at the end of March – the second get planted around the end of March to April and harvested end of May. Up until last week people have been busy planting a second crop of beans hoping that these rains continue for a few more weeks.
- The rains also bring more standing water, which brings more mozzies, which brings more malaria. Our little district hospital is full of people waiting to get malaria tests. The hospital actually tests well and the treatments are quite effective, although deaths from malaria are still very common. There’s still about 15,000 deaths each year to malaria in Mozambique.
- Covid is not an issue.
- During January and February the villages are quite empty as people spend all day and often live out on their farms for months at a time. At that time of the year most villages just have a few grandparents and little kids runnings around. Around the end of March most farm work is finished and village life returns to normal.
- Ramadan has just started for 2022. As the fast begins, life slows down. There’s more time to sit and chat. This years timing seemed to work quite well as most people could sneak in the last of the farm work before Ramadan started – physical farm work during Ramadan is difficult!!
- It’s always a beautiful time of year – great sunsets and sunrises with clear air and majestic clouds. Everything is an intense green colour. The days are warm and night cool. There’re regular storms to watch and lightning shows to be amazed at.
The Beeck Brief 
Thanks for that Kath and Cam. It’s always good to hear your news and to see you in your environment. Those cloud pics are gorgeous and hope they continue rolling in to keep the second bean crop going😊 I would like to help with the bean sorting! X Jenni
Thanks Cam and Kath, enjoyed reading about life in Mozambique as it is currently. Hope that the second crop of beans grows well!
The photos are beautiful, just love the cloud formations and the radiance of the sun. Will be praying about the rain, for good bean crops and that more people are able to access the treatment for malaria. Thanks for the update.