Radio Scripts
Package 77
March 2006
The Long Dry Season: A Tale of Greed and Resourcefulness
Episode 12
CAST
- NARRATOR
- YOHANNA
- HASSAN
- MOLEKE
- BALA MANU
- SHURAHI
- POLICE INSPECTOR
| 1. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC UP, HOLD 0.5 AND FADE UNDER OPENING ANNOUNCEMENTS, FADE UP AND UNDER... |
| 2. | NARRATOR: | Friends, welcome to our stories about my hometown Mabudi. The
last time I talked to you I was in tears and despair about the fate that had befallen my once pristine town. Things were so bad that not a blade of grass was to be seen anywhere, only sand and dust and baked earth. The forest, our lovely thick forest for which Mabudi was well known, was almost gone. The wells and streams dried up and people started fleeing to find greener pastures. Even our Abah found out too late that trusting Moleke is like hugging a rattlesnake to your chest because you thought it was your pet. But does the rattlesnake agree? As you will recall, not everybody threw in the towel. There were those I like to call the remnants. A small band of principled and I daresay stubborn people who stayed and struggled to push the desert back. These were folks like Yohanna, his son Hassan, Shurahi, the agricultural officer, even Garam. Yes. The mobile supermarket. He stopped here two years ago and decided to stay to assist Yohanna and company. It's been two years since that day when all seemed lost. So how are things in Mabudi now? I can't wait to tell you! These fearless people have been slowly reclaiming the soil and starting to turn the land green with shrubbery, yellow with grass and maize and sorghum stalks. They also planted cassava, yams, sweet potatoes and even vegetables, okra, peppers, tomatoes.... and harvested.... Yes! How was this possible? How did they do it? Well, they used various methods to coax the hard and cracked land to become productive again, methods that you have probably heard about from Shurahi and Yohanna in the past. They also got a lot of help from their neighbours and the local government and the agricultural experts, because one of the first things they decided to do was sign the convention for joint action against desertification! Neighbouring communities have used what happened in Mabudi to learn what not to do to your land. It is early morning now and the farming household of Yohanna is already awake... let's join them and find out what the excitement is all about, shall we... |
| 3. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE UNDER... |
SCENE 1
| 4. | SFX: | YOHANNA'S HOUSE. EARLY IN THE MORNING. HE IS PREPARING TO GO TO THE FARM, AND WE HEAR FARM TOOLS BEING ASSEMBLED. SOUND OF WIND FORMS THE SOUNDBED FOR THIS SCENE. |
| 5. | YOHANNA: | (QUIETLY, ON MIC) Hassan, get the bigger basin too. We need it to move the stones we gathered yesterday. |
| 6. | HASSAN: | (GOING OFF MIC) I can't seem to find it. It's not with the other tools we brought from the farm yesterday. Zara...she might.... |
| 7. | YOHANNA: | (CALLS OUT, ON) Well, call and ask her. What's keeping her anyway? I've been calling and calling, but there's no response. |
| 8. | HASSAN: | (OFF MIC) There's something wrong here... |
| 9. | YOHANNA: | (ON) What do you mean? |
| 10. | HASSAN: | (COMING BACK ON) Well, the front door was unlocked when I woke up this morning. (ON) Then, when I went to tell Zara that we were leaving for the farm in a short while, she wasn't in her room. |
| 11. | YOHANNA: | What do you mean "wasn't in her room"? She went to bed before the rest of us, didn't she? |
| 12. | HASSAN: | Yes... And I personally locked the door myself before going to bed. But it was unlocked this morning, and Zara...it appears she did not sleep in her bed either. |
| 13. | YOHANNA: | Well, don't just stand there ... look for her. It's unusual for her to wake up this early. Hummnn ... |
| 14. | HASSAN: | Let me try Jauro's house where Garam is staying...see if she's there. |
| 15. | YOHANNA: | What? What will she be... do you know something that I don't? (HASSAN SAYS NO) Anyway, hurry and check. And what would she be doing outside in this foul weather? |
| 16. | YOHANNA: | (THINKING ALOUD) These children! I hope I haven't overlooked anything. Zara with Garam...would she dare? No, she wouldn't. Zara is a sensible girl. (SEES A PERSON IN THE DISTANCE AND CALLS OUT). Did you get there at all? Did you see...(STOPS SHORT. CONTINUES IN AN UNCERTAIN VOICE). Who are you? What do you want? |
| 17. | BALA MANU: | (COMING ON MIC) It's BALA MANU, Baba Yohanna. It's me. Good morning, sir. |
| 18. | YOHANNA: | Bala, is it really you? What are you doing covered up like that? Are you trying to give an old man a heart attack? |
| 19. | BALA MANU: | I'm terribly sorry, sir. I must look quite a sight. I ran into a sandstorm on the outskirts of the village. |
| 20. | YOHANNA: | I see. You chose a special day to come. We get these sandstorms every now and then. Oh, you should see yourself in a mirror, all covered in fine grey powder. Come in and get warm. |
| 21. | BALA MANU: | First, let me get rid of these clothes. There's sand in the folds of my clothes, sand in my hair, my nose, my eyes, my ears... When did things get this bad? |
| 22. | YOHANNA: | It's been getting progressively worse. Life here seems mostly flies and dust now. We haven't seen rain in a long time, not even a sprinkle to settle the dust. |
| 23. | BALA MANU: | So how do you cope? |
| 24. | YOHANNA: | Oh, we get by. We were lucky to store some rainwater before this dry spell, but we use that strictly for drinking. But it is dry. Even the trees are dry. How is your father, by the way? |
| 25. | BALA MANU: | He's all right. He has settled down, but he hates life in Papalanto. Complains all the time. |
| 26. | YOHANNA: | I'm happy you came to visit. Thanks for not forgetting us. |
| 27. | BALA MANU: | I didn't come just for a visit - I'm back for good. It turns out I'm not cut out for city living at all. I had a most unsuccessful career as a steward. I got fired. |
| 28. | YOHANNA: | I'm sorry to hear that. |
| 29. | BALA MANU: | I'm not. Farming is all I've ever wanted to do anyway. (PAUSE) I have another reason for coming back...I don't know, sir, if it's too soon or too sudden to state it, but I have come to seek the hand of Zara in marriage. |
| 30. | YOHANNA: | Zara my daughter? |
| 31. | BALA MANU: | Yes, sir. Even while I was away from here, I have never stopped loving or thinking about her. (HASSAN ENTERS. THE TWO EXPRESS HAPPINESS TO SEE EACH OTHER). |
| 32. | HASSAN: | (COMING ON, SURPRISED) Hey you! Bala, or should I say "city boy"! (LOUD HIGH FIVES, ON MIC). |
| 33. | BALA: | (ON) Hey you, yourself! What's up, Hassan? |
| 34. | HASSAN: | (ON) So-so. But what are you doing here, man? (LAUGHS) You look like you came out of the dust or something... |
| 35. | BALA: | (LAUGHING) |
| 36. | YOHANNA: | He came through a sandstorm. (PAUSE). Hassan, did you find her? |
| 37. | HASSAN: | No. Garam is not there either...it appears he has moved out - all his things are gone. All I found was this note. |
| 38. | YOHANNA: | A note? What does it say? |
| 39. | HASSAN: | (READING). I am sorry. But Zara and I love each other very much and want to get married. I promise to take very good care of her. Please don't be alarmed or worried, I'll do the proper thing by her. |
| 40. | MUSIC: | BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE TO |
SCENE 2
| 41. | SFX: | YOHANNA'S HOUSE. DOOR OPENS. SOUND OF WIND UP AND CUT WHEN DOOR CLOSES. |
| 42. | YOHANNA: | Well...well...well! |
| 43. | MOLEKE: | Really, Yohanna, I come back after two years and that's all the greeting, all the welcome I get? I take it you are not pleased to see me then? |
| 44. | YOHANNA: | Forgive me for not jumping up and down. Besides, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. Frankly, I'm not sure whether to be pleased or not, Moleke, but welcome. |
| 45. | MOLEKE: | Well, as you can see, it's me. Your eyes are not deceiving you. |
| 46. | YOHANNA: | Thanks be to God. You disappear and reappear! (SARCASTICALLY) And the last time you appeared, you brought nothing but trouble. I'm wondering what it is you have brought this time around. |
| 47. | MOLEKE: | The only troublemaker I see is the one standing in front of me. You are the troublemaker, you self-righteous bastard! Who gave you and the others the right to cultivate crops on my land? |
| 48. | YOHANNA: | Which land might you be referring to? And what makes you think I require your permission to cultivate communal land? |
| 49. | MOLEKE: | Oh, is that what you call it? I know you are good at taking what does not belong to you, but not this time. |
| 50. | YOHANNA: | Here we go! Anyway, when have you ever known me to take something that did not belong to me? |
| 51. | MOLEKE: | You think I have forgotten the way you weaseled your way into my family and stole my father's affection from me? Don't let us open old wounds. |
| 52. | YOHANNA: | Oh let's do, because very soon, you'll accuse me of being responsible for your bad behaviour as a youngster too. |
| 53. | MOLEKE: | Your day of reckoning is coming. For your information, I have come back to stay. And I want my land back. |
| 54. | YOHANNA: | Haven't you done enough damage? It's thanks to you that the whole of Mabudi has become empty and the land hard, dry and infertile. You are responsible for all that! |
| 55. | MOLEKE: | That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Do I control the elements? |
| 56. | YOHANNA: | Why don't you go back to where you have been hiding all these years? At least, leave us to do the hard work,something you're obviously unfamiliar with...then you can come back and wreck it again. |
| 57. | MOLEKE: | If it's such hard work, then you should be rejoicing that I've come back to relieve you of your burden. |
| 58. | YOHANNA: | Have you gone to the farms and seen the wonders? Go and see for yourself. We have managed to grow a few trees; we're planting more. We're using various methods to make the soil fertile again. |
| 59. | MOLEKE: | (SARCASTICALLY) Very impressive! |
| 60. | YOHANNA: | Now what do you suggest we do? |
| 61. | MOLEKE: | The obvious. Just cut down those trees and uproot your crops. Whatever you do is your business. I just want my land back. |
| 62. | YOHANNA: | This is a fantasy of yours, no more. Tomorrow morning you'll wake up and laugh at it. And you keep calling it your land - where did you get that idea from? |
| 63. | MOLEKE: | Eighty percent of all Mabudi land belongs to me. I am owed millions on those lands. [USE LOCAL AND REALISTIC CURRENCY AND FIGURES] In the absence of cash, I want to use it for myself as I see fit! |
| 64. | YOHANNA: | You'll have the whole land desolate and barren again.(PICKS UP A CUTLASS) Look, Moleke... |
| 65. | MOLEKE: | Are you planning to attack me with that cutlass? |
| 66. | YOHANNA: | Attack you...for what? Our people say that if you argue with a madman, there's no difference between the two of you. I have work to do, so you must forgive me if I can no longer stand here and listen to your hallucinations!! |
| 67. | MOLEKE: | Do you understand what I'm saying? I want my land.... |
| 68. | YOHANNA: | You'll have to step over my corpse to get to any land. |
| 69. | MOLEKE: | Is that a death wish? |
| 70. | YOHANNA: | (ALREADY GOING OFF) I'm not joking. |
| 71. | MOLEKE: | Well, we'll see about that! Wait, I'm coming right back soon and then we'll see. |
| 72. | MUSIC: | BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER |
SCENE 3
| 73. | SFX: | BALA MANU AND SHURAHI'S LAUGHTER. SOUNDS OF FARM WORK LIKE HOEING OR DIGGING. |
| 74. | BALA MANU: | No, seriously Shurahi, let me try. I've been watching as you planted the other ones. It's simple. I can do it. |
| 75. | SHURAHI: | Ok, go ahead. Try. But I'm watching... |
| 76. | BALA MANU: | Good. Hand me the plastic container. Wait, this one doesn't seem to have enough holes. |
| 77. | SHURAHI: | Don't worry, there are enough holes. The holes are for water to drain out; that's why they are in the bottom. If there are more holes than that, the water will gush out when you water your vegetable seedlings. |
| 78. | BALA MANU: | I understand. So, I'll fill the container with soil like this. Then, I'll water it to make the soil moist. Then I'm ready to plant a seed? |
| 79. | SHURAHI: | It's as simple as that. And because you used a container, you don't need as much water to keep the soil moist. Because you're not watering a lot of extra soil. |
| 80. | BALA MANU: | Pardon me, but if the soil needs to be moist, why does the soil in these other bigger containers look so dry? |
| 81. | SHURAHI: | These seedlings are big enough to transplant directly into the garden. When they are this size, you put the container outside where it will get some sun and wind. Each day you can increase the time outside. When it's ready to stay out all day, then you plant it directly into the soil. |
| 82. | BALA MANU: | Is there any special practice for transplanting into the soil? |
| 83. | SHURAHI: | Come over here. (THEY MOVE) Now, this furrow is already prepared. You can see that there's one centimetre of compost in the furrow. I'll plant the seeds in the compost, cover them with a little soil, then gently press the soil down. Only the furrows need to be watered. (PAUSE) Are you listening at all? |
| 84. | BALA MANU: | Of course I am. Do you want me to repeat what you have just said? |
| 85. | SHURAHI: | It's just that you seemed miles away, so I thought you weren't listening. Anyway, after a few weeks when the seedling is larger, make a circular trough in the soil around the plant, making sure that the base of the plant stem is higher than the bottom of the trough, and water only the trough. |
| 86. | BALA MANU: | Let me ask you one question which is bothering me. If plants need sunlight to grow, why are you planting them in this shade? |
| 87. | SHURAHI: | Well, this location is actually perfect because it gets about eight hours of sun every day. These plants need at least six hours of sun a day, but too much sun will dry them out. That's why I created this afternoon shade...(STOPS) you see, you have gone into your thoughts again. You're not listening. |
| 88. | BALA MANU: | I'm sorry. You're right. I'm kind of upset. |
| 89. | SHURAHI: | I have upset you? |
| 90. | BALA MANU: | (NERVOUS LAUGH) No...not you. I'm just upset about Zara's elopement with that...that...that mobile supermarket. |
| 91. | SHURAHI: | Why does that upset you? |
| 92. | BALA MANU: | How could she betray me like that? |
| 93. | SHURAHI: | Betray you? If I understand it correctly, the girl has gone to be with the one she loves. How is that a betrayal? |
| 94. | BALA MANU: | I love her, you see? I have loved her for as long as I can remember. |
| 95. | SHURAHI: | You have loved her. Well, did she know? If you have loved her all your life, did you ever tell her? |
| 96. | BALA MANU: | I spent so much time around her family ...I thought it was obvious. What did I do wrong? |
| 97. | SHURAHI: | Either she did not get your vibes, or she ignored them. |
| 98. | BALA MANU: | What a comfort you are! |
| 99. | SHURAHI: | What do you want me to say? Perhaps you should go and drag your... (SPITS OUT THE WORD) sweetheart... back by the ear to come and marry you? |
| 100. | BALA MANU: | That's unfair...you're not being nice. What is the matter? |
| 101. | SHURAHI: | Nothing is the matter. I only wish I could wake you up from your slumber. There she is with the one she loves, not even sparing a thought for you, and here you are pining away... |
| 102. | BALA MANU: | Why are you packing up? Don't you want to finish planting these vegetables? |
| 103. | SHURAHI: | How can we finish the work when you take off to the moon at the slightest opportunity? Please pardon me if I don't want to hang around and hear you bewail the loss of your sweetheart. |
| 104. | BALA MANU: | When will you come back so that we can finish the rows? |
| 105. | SHURAHI: | (ANGRY) I don't know if I will return. In fact, I plan to go back to Papalanto as soon as the new extension officer arrives tomorrow. Please tell Pa Yohanna goodbye for me. |
| 106. | MUSIC: | BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER |
SCENE 4
| 107. | SFX: | GENERAL AMBIENCE DEPICTING YOHANNA'S HOUSE. | |
| 108. | POLICE INSPECTOR: | Yohanna, I see you're taking advantage of the good weather today. | |
| 109. | YOHANNA: | Oh yes indeed, Inspector. Welcome to my home. I hope you don't mind joining me under this mango tree? | |
| 110. | P. INSPECTOR: | Not at all. What about you, Moleke? | |
| 111. | MOLEKE: | Fine by me. | |
| 112. | YOHANNA: | Bala, hurry and bring out more chairs. Inspector, please sit here. | |
| 113. | P. INSPECTOR: | Thank you. I'm sorry for showing up suddenly like this... | |
| 114. | YOHANNA: | No problem at all. You can come to my house anytime. (CHAIRS ARRIVE AND THEY SIT) I hope there's no trouble? | |
| 115. | P. INSPECTOR: | I don't know. You see, when we receive a report, we must investigate, and that's why you see me here. | |
| 116. | YOHANNA: | I am listening. | |
| 117. | P. INSPECTOR: | You see, Moleke here reported that you have trespassed on his land. Is this true? | |
| 118. | YOHANNA: | It's not true. In fact, it's a complete lie. | |
| 119. | P. INSPECTOR: | He says that when he demanded the return of his lands, you threatened him. | |
| 120. | YOHANNA: | I have no idea why he would say things like that. None of these things happened. | |
| 121. | P. INSPECTOR: | So you're saying the charge of trespass and that of threat of bodily harm is false? | |
| 122. | YOHANNA: | That is correct. Nothing of the sort happened. | |
| 123. | P. INSPECTOR: | Well, Moleke, what have you got to say? What did you tell us at the Police Station? | |
| 124. | MOLEKE: | I stand by everything I said. It happened exactly as I told you. This man called Yohanna has not only usurped my lands, but when I confronted him, he threatened to deal with me. | |
| 125. | YOHANNA: | Inspector, I think Moleke is just wasting our time. I have not touched Moleke's land. I don't even know where this land is. | |
| 126. | BALA MANU: | If I may speak ... (HE GETS THE GO AHEAD) Inspector, all the land that we have been cultivating is our own. Also, we have been trying to revive the communal grazing lands and what used to be the forest. Perhaps this is what Moleke is referring to? | |
| 127. | MOLEKE: | You are most annoying! What do you know about this matter? | |
| 128. | YOHANNA: | I think it's a fair assessment to say that he knows more than you do. We have been working together, toiling side by side. He also happens to be the crown prince of Mabudi, don't forget. | |
| 129. | MOLEKE: | Inspector, I have proof of ownership of the lands in question. I have here with me all the documents giving me ownership to those lands. | |
| 130. | P. INSPECTOR: | Who gave you these documents? | |
| 131. | MOLEKE: | The previous owners. | |
| 132. | P. INSPECTOR: | How did they come to give you ownership of their lands? | |
| 133. | MOLEKE: | They owed me huge sums of money, and since they couldn't pay, they signed over their lands. | |
| 134. | P. INSPECTOR: | Is this all the proof you have? | |
| 135. | MOLEKE: | What more proof do you need? Is this not enough? | |
| 136. | P. INSPECTOR: | I shall be honest with you, Moleke; I don't see a case here. You have asked the law to take sides with you to undo painstaking efforts to revive the land. We can't do that. | |
| 137. | MOLEKE: | Are you saying you won't do anything? | |
| 138. | P. INSPECTOR: | You might consider going to the High Court, but this is beyond us. | |
| 139. | MOLEKE: | This is not the end. I shall return for what's mine, you will see! | |
| 140. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER. | |
| 141. | NARRATOR: | Friends, now how do you like that? Moleke. Hah! Moleke. Every
time he reappears expect some kind of trouble for the land in Mabudi. How can he suggest we cut down the trees and plants so painstakingly cultivated by the farmers?! Who in their right minds could support such a claim? I'm not sure we've heard the last of this though...Moleke being Moleke! There's trouble brewing in the love department for our young people. First Zara elopes with Garam, the mobile supermarket. Garam, after hanging around for the past two years to help her family, finally managed to win Zara's heart without Yohanna having an inkling. And on the same day that BALA MANU returns to declare his own love for her? Amazing! Now Shurahi, our dear Agricultural officer is threatening to leave Mabudi. Why? You'll have to tune in to find out on our next program | |
| 142. | MUSIC: | THEME MUSIC UP AND UNDER CLOSING CREDITS. |
The End
Script written by: Euphemia Kange Chiekyula
