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Radio Scripts

Package 77
March 2006

The Long Dry Season: A Tale of Greed and Resourcefulness

Package 77 - Table of Contents

Appendix IV - Design Document for Package 77

The Long Dry Season: A Tale of Greed and Resourcefulness is a 13-episode radio serial for farmers and community members to enjoy and at the same time learn about the causes of desertification and its solutions. More generally, it teaches lessons about long-term respect for the land versus short-term greed.

SETTING

Most of the action is located in a fictitious, large rural village called Mabudi. References are also made to other places and neighbouring villages and cities. Jantale is one such neighbouring village. Papalanto is the capital city of the Northwest, closest to these villages.

The time of the dramas is a broad period of about 10 years. References to the previous 20 years will be frequently made.

CHARACTERS AND THEIR PROFILES

The following are the main characters that will populate this serial:

YOHANNA
Age: 42
Occupation: Farmer, Herbalist (Native Doctor), Conservationist
Family: Husband to Choliba and father of Zara and Hassan, cousin to Moleke
Character: Honest, calm, gentle, loving, wise, respected, very knowledgeable.

MOLEKE
Age: 45
Occupation: Scam Artist, Trader and Businessman.
Family: Cousin to Yohanna, son of Babamu (deceased).
Character: Dishonest, selfish, shortsighted and impatient. Greedy, ostentatious, charming and deceitful.

THE ABAH MANU
Age: 55
Occupation: Titled Village Head (The Abah or Father of Mabudi)
Family: Father of Bala Manu, husband of Babi, Titi and Halima.
Character: Greedy, womanizer, loves money, little ability to plan.

BALA MANU
Age: 29.
Occupation: Overseer of his father's farms and holdings.
Family: Son of the Abah Manu
Character: Very interested in farming, quiet, introspective, respectful, humble, hard working, quick learner, loves the people and regrets his father's disregard for their welfare.

CHOLIBA
Age: 25
Family: Yohanna's second wife
Character: Loves fashion, trinkets, and shopping. Spoilt, materialistic, lazy and disorganized. No interest in family life - only in hateful gossip, bragging and comparing.

BABI
Age: 22
Family: Third wife of the Abah Manu.
Character: Ambitious to be the Abah's preferred wife.

ZARA
Age: 20
Family: daughter of Yohanna and his late wife
Character: Daydreamer, romantic, headstrong, likes to argue, lazy, loves to read and sleep, wants to further her education, hates everything about farming.

HASSAN
Age: 19
Family: Yohanna's son with former wife.
Character: Loves his family and adores his sister, Zara. Loves every thing about farming, animals and rural life. Gregarious, friendly and outgoing.

SULEIMAN
Age: 50
Occupation: Yohanna's neighbour. Herdsman (cattle, sheep and goat rearer).
Character: Stingy, authoritarian, very hard working, dedicated to his animals.

GARAM
Age: 35
Occupation: Itinerant salesman of myriad goods and every nicknack. His nickname among buyers is "Mobile Supermarket."
Character: As a result of his travels, he is very enlightened, open-minded and knowledgeable about life and practices in many places.

SHURAHI (SHURA)
Age: 24
Occupation: Agricultural officer posted to Mabudi.
Character: Very interested in local lore and practices about farming. Respected by elderly and youth, very hard working and knowledgeable.

PLOTS

Main Plot: Yohanna's story

Yohanna is a simple but contented farmer and part-time herbalist who lives in the small rural town of Mabudi where rainfall is customarily low and the weather is hot and dry for the better part of each year. Things were different when he was a boy. Yohanna can remember when the desert featured only in folk tales of adventure and long treks to Mecca on holy pilgrimages, and when Mabudi and the surrounding region were lush, green and fertile. He was virtually raised in the forest and grew to love it dearly, learning about each herb and tree bark, drinking from cool streams and learning the trill of each bird and the tracks of every animal.

The centre of this drama is the often turbulent relationship between Yohanna and his cousin, Moleke. Their history of animosity began during their childhood when the orphaned Yohanna went to live with Moleke's family and was raised by his parents Babamu and Mamji. In those days, Babamu was a famous herbalist who was said to understand the language of the bush and was revered for his knowledge of nature and natural cures for illness. As a boy, Yohanna had thrived on the close attention, love and education provided by Babamu. Not so for Moleke, who had despised his father and taken off at the first opportunity. Yohanna inherited his Uncle's respectful ways with nature and herbs, as well as the family land upon the passing of the old man in a mysterious fire. While everyone in Mabudi believes the fire was an act of God, Yohanna is convinced that he had seen someone like Moleke come out of Babamu's room and slink into the shadows on the night of the fire. Though he has never mentioned it to anyone, he is convinced to this day that Moleke is responsible for the death of the only man he ever knew as a father. Yohanna took care of Moleke's mother until her death and gave her a burial such as a son of her loins would, since no one had heard anything from Moleke.

Moleke reappears twenty years later, very wealthy and with no explanation as to where he had been or the source of his affluence. He throws money and presents around so much that no one but Yohanna wants to question the source of his wealth. Everyone also seems to forget Babamu and the fact that Moleke had not returned once since the tragedy, not even for his own mother's funeral. When Moleke proposes to introduce new farming techniques for mass production of vegetable crops, Yohanna is the only one to see the plans as potentially destructive of the land. Moleke tells the villagers that there is serious money to be made in tomatoes, carrots, and other salad vegetables as opposed to the grains they traditionally grow in this region. He advises Mabudians to join the forward-thinking farmers in other towns and villages and begin to grow these commodities in the quantities that will turn them into instant millionaires. While the whole of Mabudi is agog and jubilant at the prospect of becoming rich, Yohanna cautions them on the long-term effect of the farming practices that will support such large-scale projects. His stance pits him against many in Mabudi, including the Abah, Moleke and his own wife Choliba.

Ten years later, Mabudi is a desert and most of the Mabudians are relocating to greener pastures. Yohanna is one of the few who decide to stay. These remnants do whatever they can to reclaim the land, using methods they learn about from neighbouring districts, from Shurahi and from traditional knowledge.

On a personal level, Moleke's return opens up a land tussle that forces the community to take sides. Yohanna also loses first his wife and later his daughter Zara when she elopes with Garam, the itinerant salesman. He gains a son, Bala Manu, who walks out of a sandstorm to stay and help push the desert back.

Sub Plot 1: Moleke's Story

This is the story of a local man, Moleke, who disappears for 20 years as a youth and returns an extremely rich and generous older man, whose apparent agenda is to enrich his fellow townsfolk. He tells them that the source of his wealth is trading in tomatoes and other vegetables and in transporting these commodities to the coastal cities. He encourages them to change their farming practices and land use system, advancing them new seedlings and inputs as loans to be repaid from future sales. The townsfolk happily buy into this scheme and use all of Mabudi's farmland to cultivate large quantities of vegetables. He persuades them to sacrifice their forest. In ten years the land turns barren and dusty, the people are labouring under huge debts, and there is a vast exodus from the village to the city to find menial work.

Moleke had always been trouble from childhood. He gave his father so much stress that, when Moleke was 25, his father finally disowned him and declared the adopted Yohanna as his only son. Moleke left town in anger soon after, the same day a mysterious fire claimed the life of his father, Babamu. His mother died of shame and heartbreak from the rumour that Moleke had caused his father's death.

While Moleke was away, a series of circumstances had led him to embark on the vegetable trading and transport business, and he has become very wealthy.

Moleke blames Yohanna for his turbulent relationship with his parents, whom he accuses of preferring the orphan to him. He has been jealous of Yohanna all his life and is angered over the latter's unflappable attitude to Moleke's new wealth, which he had hoped to use to impress and oppress him. His plan is to control everything in Mabudi and make its people realize his power, and above all to make Yohanna pay for the parental approval and love he felt the latter stole from him.

Even after the town dies and Yohanna stays behind to pick up the pieces, Moleke finds ways to trouble him until the remaining residents wise up and deal with Moleke once and for all.

Sub Plot 2: The Abah Manu's story

The Abah Manu is the king of Mabudi. He has been king since he was 15 and is considered to be the worst king in the history of the community. He uses his position for his own benefit alone and has introduced and institutionalized bribery and graft. He is well known for his ego, pride and greed. He is a much-married man and divorces his wives on the flimsiest of excuses, a common one being that they have gotten older. He boasts that he can never have old women in the palace when girls are born every day in his kingdom. Most of the problems he has with his subjects arise from tussles over women, either from making passes at other men's wives or from chatting up their underaged daughters.

He has also belittled the merit-based customs of the land by awarding titles indiscriminately and to people of questionable repute, and by turning the process into a money-making venture.

He has big self-esteem issues regarding masculinity and sexual prowess. One of his recent wives, Babi, is a source of great trial to him in this regard. While publicly hating Yohanna, he still swallows his pride often enough to consult him for so-called manhood enhancement treatments.

Rumour has it that he stole his wife Halima while she was pregnant with another man's child (Suleiman), which is the reason people tend to look for and see a resemblance to this man in his son, Bala.

When Moleke shows up throwing around gifts and money, Manu is the first to welcome him with titles and honour. He participates in the agricultural ventures and becomes so indebted that he has to leave Mabudi in shame to look for work in the city like everyone else. Even his son Bala abandons him to return to help Yohanna in Mabudi. A sickly Abah is admitted to hospital with symptoms resembling AIDS.

THEMES:

The central theme of this serial drama can be summarized in the adage, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." The emotional focus of the serial reflects universal moral values such as truth, courage, and good triumphing over evil. Another theme is the courage of individuals to make a difference.

There are many messages for the audience to learn from, plus instruction on specific skills - from negotiating with their neighbours on how to jointly combat desertification to methods of returning moisture to degraded lands. Key messages are:

  1. What is desertification?
  2. What causes desertification? (Covers mostly human actions)
  3. Solutions to desertification

PLOT CHART AND EVENTS LIST

Main Plot Events

Sub Plot 1 Events

Sub Plot 2 events