Photo
Subscribe to Farm Radio Weekly

Go to Supporters and Donors Site

1404 Scott Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1Y 4M8

Tel: 613-761-3650
Fax: 613-798-0990
Toll-Free: 1-888-773-7717
Email: info@farmradio.org
Web Site: http://farmradio.org/

Radio Scripts

Package 77
March 2006

The Long Dry Season: A Tale of Greed and Resourcefulness

Package 77 - Table of Contents

« Previous Episode

Episode 5

CAST

1.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP, HOLD AND FADE UNDER OPENING ANNOUNCEMENTS, UP AND UNDER...
2.NARRATOR:Friends, welcome to the latest instalment in our story about the village of Mabudi, which is undergoing some major changes since her prodigal son Moleke returned a year ago. Yes! A whole year has passed and the large-scale scheme to grow only tomatoes and salad vegetables on grasslands, including the old communal grazing land, is at its peak. Hardly anyone grows grains or any other crop these days. These are hard times for herdsmen in Mabudi as grazing land is grabbed and the remaining strip becomes overgrazed and bald. A solution, my friends, is urgently needed... Will they find it?

True to his promise, "Chief" Moleke did indeed sink a dozen or more boreholes, and installed machines to pump water over all the fields. Moleke is also the chief buyer and transporter of the produce to the coast. Some of our neighbours are holding their breath and looking forward to the promised prosperity. Will it materialize?

But what does the Prince BALA MANU really think of the tight friendship between Moleke and his father THE ABAH? And what kind of a leader is THE ABAH MANU? Our elders used to say that leadership is for those with the hearts of servants, and whose concern is for the lot of their people. How does THE ABAH measure up? (PAUSE) I talk too much. Let's hurry to listen to Yohanna and his friends talk about their lives, the changes, the new values....
3.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC FADES UP AND FADES UNDER...

SCENE 1

4.SFX:OUTDOORS BY YOHANNA'S HOMESTEAD. SOUNDS OF CHICKENS, DOGS, GOATS AND SHEEP INTERMITTENTLY AS SOUND BED.
5.YOHANNA:Koi-koi, my very good friend. Just apply the herbs as I instructed.
6.KOI-KOI:Thank you, Yohanna, for all your help. I should have made this trip earlier.
7.YOHANNA:Before you finish these herbs, your whole family should be feeling a lot better, every one of you.
8.KOI-KOI:Thank you, my friend, for making your good knowledge of herbs readily available to me and my family.
9.YOHANNA:We thank God and Mother Nature. As for me, I did nothing but take a little of the gifts kindly provided by God.
10.SFX:FOOTSTEPS. CLUCKING HENS, GROWLING DOG SIGNIFYING SOMEONE'S APPROACH.
11.KOI-KOI:Is that Suleiman the herdsman coming? My God, he looks emaciated!
12.YOHANNA:Yes, that's him. The poor man is just returning from a grazing trip with his whole family. They were gone for two good months.
13.SFX:FOOTSTEPS AND RACKET OF BUCKETS AND BASINS SLOWLY COMING ON MIC.
14.KOI-KOI:Ah ah ah, Suleiman... You look exhausted, my friend.
15.SULEIMAN:Ah, Koi-koi my Jantale friend. How is life treating you?
16.KOI-KOI:Not too bad, except for the malaria that threatens my family.
17.SULEIMAN:If that is the case, with Yohanna here your problem is as good as solved (THEY CHUCKLE)!
18.YOHANNA:That is precisely why he came ... you can see the herbs with him already.
19.SULEIMAN:God will continue to help us.
20.YOHANNA:Suleiman, how was your grazing trip?
21.SULEIMAN:Hmm Yohanna ...this nomadic life one has been forced to start in old age? It is not easy.
22.KOI-KOI:I understand you were away for eight solid weeks.
23.SULEIMAN:Yes, Koi-koi. Nearly eight weeks of avoidable stress and hardship for my family.
24.YOHANNA:I know, Suleiman.
25.SULEIMAN:You both know how large my herd is?
26.KOI-KOI:Oh yes.
27.SULEIMAN:Since THE ABAH banned us from grazing on our ancestral pasture, we've had to start roaming with the cattle and sheep in search of food. It has been very difficult.
28.YOHANNA:I do not personally believe that the community grassland should be taken because THE ABAH and Moleke want to plant tomatoes. It is unjust.
29.KOI-KOI:In Jantale, we've heard that these vegetable gardens belong jointly to the people of Mabudi. Is this true?
30.SULEIMAN:All lies and rumours! Who are these gardeners but THE ABAH and Moleke his friend? We wanted to resist but they deceived us and used ruffians to harass and displace us, so we've left it to God.
31.YOHANNA:Terrible. THE ABAH doesn't know who he's dealing with though. Knowing my cousin Moleke very well, THE ABAH will soon discover that he owns nothing.
32.KOI-KOI:What do you mean?
33.YOHANNA:You watch. Moleke will outsmart him soon enough and take sole ownership of everything.
34.SULEIMAN:Now that the greedy collaborators have driven us from our grazing pasture, the only land we had left was completely stripped by overgrazing in no time. All that's left is a dust bowl.
35.KOI-KOI:Well, in my village of Jantale, our herdsmen have managed to survive the banning, interestingly enough. We still graze our animals close by without totally stripping the land.
36.SULEIMAN:(EAGERLY) How do you do that? Sheep and goats in particular will graze until nothing is left. You can hardly stop them once they start eating. So it would be nice to know how you graze and still have any grass left.
37.KOI-KOI:The Jantale herdsmen now use a method of grazing which is good at restoring fertility to overgrazed land.
38.SULEIMAN:Thank God I met you here. You have to tell me, Koi-koi!
39.KOI-KOI:We are rotating the grazing fields and we are doing something called bunching.
40.SULEIMAN:(ATTEMPTING TO PRONOUNCE IT) B-u-nch.
41.YOHANNA:Tell us how you did it, Koi-koi.
42.KOI-KOI:The entire community came together to plan what to do when the biggest part of the grazing land was taken away. We knew that if we continued to graze individual herds separately the animals would destroy the land.
43.SULEIMAN:You are quite right... it's happened with the land around here...all patches and dust. Grass no longer grows there.
44.YOHANNA:Go on please, Koi-koi.
45.KOI-KOI:The first thing we did was make joint plans as to how our land and water will be used by all. We divided up our grazing land into many individual grazing units and grazed all our animals close together on one unit only at a time.
46.SULEIMAN:What good will that do? They'll eventually eat everything up.
47.KOI-KOI:Not the way we do it. We talked with our expert herders and our agricultural extension officer to advise us on the amount of grass the livestock require. Now we rotate the herds and leave the land already grazed to grow back.
48.YOHANNA:That makes sense. Sounds to me like how we used to cultivate our farms when I was a lad. We left lands fallow for a period, farmed elsewhere, then came back to the old field when the soil improved.
49.SULEIMAN:Let me understand you well, my friend. Everybody's livestock will be grazed together on one plot at a time? (CHUCKLES IN DISBELIEF)
50.KOI-KOI:Yes. Oh, I know some folks won't like the idea. But you have to come together as a community and agree on a solution. And this one works! The alternative is to be like Mabudi, which everyone can see has a serious problem.
51.YOHANNA:It's not such an unreasonable idea, Suleiman. Think about it. If everyone agrees, you graze your animals on one unit for a while ...
52.KOI-KOI:... and you move on to the next grazing unit when the grass is lush there, and before the cattle graze the first unit down to the roots.
53.SULEIMAN:I really like this idea. But our land is already poor. I wish we had known about this before.
54.KOI-KOI:Suleiman, look ... with determination and a plan, it is possible to halt the destruction and start reclamation.
55.SULEIMAN:I definitely want to try it. But I must talk to all the herdsmen.
56.KOI-KOI:Now that you are back, you can come and see our grazing area. Bunching helps the soil to become fertile. With bunching, you keep the animals close together. That way, they churn the maize stalk and other stubble into the soil, together with their urine and dung. All this provides good fertilizer for the grass that is trying to grow back.
57.YOHANNA:Well, Suleiman my neighbour, do you think it will work here?
58.SULEIMAN:I am prepared to try it. Anything that can help us restore the land and stay in our homes is good news.
59.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND UNDER

SCENE 2

60.SFX:NOISE OF ACTIVITIES ON THE FARM. PUMPS SPLASH WATER. SEVERAL FOOTSTEPS.
61.ABAH:I see that work is going on as planned.
62.BALA:So far so good, Baba.
63.ABAH:Bala my son, you can see that finally our dreams of making it real big, I mean making cool money, are near reality.
64.BALA:Yes, Baba. I recruited lots of new labourers from around the whole region to pick the unripe tomatoes today.
65.ABAH:Good. No wonder I see a lot of new faces.
66.BALA:We expect that we'll be able to meet the weekly quota of three dozen baskets today with no problem.
67.ABAH:(ELATED) Great! Let me call my friend Moleke and inform him immediately. (SILENCE AS HE TRIES A CALL) Halo ... yes ... yes ...this is THE ABAH. Correct. Yes. Okay. Just to inform you that the tomatoes are ready to be trucked tomorrow. Yes. That is true. (LAUGHING) No no no ... I should thank you for all your help and guidance. Oh yes. Okay. True. Yes. Bye, my High Chief. (TO BALA) Wonderful son of the soil he is.
68.BALA:How much do we owe him so far?
69.ABAH:(SURPRISED) Owe? There is no talk of indebtedness.
70.BALA:Well, Moleke has a book into which he always scribbles things.
71.ABAH:I have myself seen him do that. But what does that have to do with debts?
72.BALA:That is his debt book. Every seedling or fertilizer bag given to anyone is recorded as a debt against the name of the person.
73.ABAH:Impossible! Moleke cannot turn round and charge me for items he freely gave me!
74.BALA:We owe Moleke several thousand naira [USE LOCAL CURRENCY] already.
75.ABAH:How can that be?
76.BALA:The three boreholes on our farms have to be paid for.
77.ABAH:You are not serious, Bala.
78.BALA:I am serious. The amounts of money I saw recorded against people's names are frightening.
79.ABAH:You must be joking.
80.BALA:We might all end up at the end of the day labouring for Moleke - except for Yohanna.
81.ABAH:That is a lie, my son. Moleke my High Chief cannot do such a thing. I don't know where you hear such wicked lies.
82.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER...

SCENE 3

83.YOHANNA:Moleke, you are welcome.
84.MOLEKE:Thank you.
85.YOHANNA:I am, however, a little bit uncomfortable that you rejected the dinner served you.
86.MOLEKE:No no no. You don't have to be uncomfortable with that. You know I am being well taken care of by THE ABAH; he cannot see me come home to the table with my appetite spoiled by outside meals.
87.YOHANNA:Well, if you think the meals served to you here are outside meals, then so be it. All the same, you are welcome.
88.MOLEKE:Thank you, Yohanna. Emm, have you heard of the big money that wise farmers of Mabudi are earning? And after barely a year of cultivating tomatoes, carrots and cabbages?
89.YOHANNA:Of course I am aware.
90.MOLEKE:Don't you regret not joining others to make this money?
91.YOHANNA:I don't have to feel sorry for a decision I strongly believe was the right one for me.
92.MOLEKE:But you have remained poor because of that decision.
93.YOHANNA:Whatever people's feelings, including yours, I am always content with my life, which people misunderstand to be poor. I can judge best what and how I feel.
94.MOLEKE:Well...
95.SFX:CHAIR CREAKS AS HE GETS UP.
96.YOHANNA:You want to go so soon?
97.MOLEKE:Yes, but not without telling you I want to repossess my land from you.
98.YOHANNA:Your land?
99.MOLEKE:Yes. I mean my rightful inheritance as the only surviving son of my father Babamu.
100.YOHANNA:Well, be reminded that Babamu himself personally gave me the land on which I built this house and farm.
101.MOLEKE:I see.
102.YOHANNA:May I remind you also that it was in the presence of the whole community that your father, my very dear uncle, gave me the land.
103.MOLEKE:(GETTING ANGRY) Look Yohanna, all that you did to turn my parents against me and dispossess me of my inheritance will stop today.
104.YOHANNA:(CHUCKLES) There is nothing you can do that will wash clean the black nose of a dog.
105.MOLEKE:Meaning what?
106.YOHANNA:Everybody in Mabudi knows your father disowned you and disinherited you of any possessions. Returning to Mabudi with your questionable affluence and dazzling gullible people cannot undo that act.
107.MOLEKE:What garbage! I swear, Yohanna, I will take back my land as the real son of Babamu.
108.YOHANNA:Why? To satisfy your greed? Or to destroy this land as you are destroying other parts of Mabudi, and turning the whole area into a desert?
109.MOLEKE:You must be insane to be the only ingrate in Mabudi to see evil in this wonderful project. Don't you see that it's making people rich?
110.YOHANNA:Rich? But for how long, Moleke, before both their lives and future die?
111.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER...

SCENE 4

112.SFX:CRASHING OF PLATES. OPENING AND CLOSING OF CUPBOARD DOORS. DRAGGING OF TIN TRUNKS ACROSS FLOOR.
113.CHOLIBA:Oh my God, what is the matter, Zara?
114.SFX:MORE CRASHING OF PLATES.
115.CHOLIBA:I hope I am not talking to a deaf and dumb person. What are you looking for and why are you making such a racket?
116.ZARA:I am looking for my late mother's china plates and deep serving dishes ... and it looks like they are all missing.
117.CHOLIBA:(LAUGHING) So it's because of those worthless old dishes that you are frowning and banging all over the place?
118.ZARA:Worthless old dishes, did you say? Choliba, why don't you mind your own business?
119.CHOLIBA:Get ready to carry the twins for the rest of the day if you wake them up with this noise.
120.ZARA:The dishes may be old but they are priceless; they were my late mother's marriage trousseau.
121.CHOLIBA:Well, I'm warning you not to wake my children ... that's all.
122.SFX:MORE DESPARATE SEARCH. MORE CRASHING. MORE NOISE.
123.ZARA:I can't find them. I can't find my mother's dishes. (TO CHOLIBA) Choliba, are you sure you don't have my mother's china and dishes? Somebody better own up before a curse sticks to them.
124.CHOLIBA:If you must know, Zara, I exchanged them months ago for the lovely necklace and veil I am wearing.
125.ZARA:(VERY ANGRY) What?! Choliba, you did what? You mean you sold my inheritance for that gaudy necklace? Somebody must join my mother in the grave today, and that person is you.
126.SFX:HURRIED FOOTSTEPS. CRASHING PLATES AND CUPBOARDS AS ZARA RUSHES AFTER CHOLIBA.
127.CHOLIBA:How dare you! How dare you!
128.SFX:MORE HURRIED FOOTSTEPS. MORE CRASHING OF PLATES.
129.ZARA:(SCUFFLING NOISES) I will squeeze the life out of you today.
130.SFX:STRUGGLING FOOTSTEPS AS THEY FIGHT.
131.CHOLIBA:(CHOKING) Zara, Zara, leave my neck, leave my neck. Do you w-w ant to kill me?
132.SFX:MORE SOUNDS AS BEFORE.
133.ZARA:I swear, I have had enough. Since you came to this house, you have done your best to remind me and Hassan of my mother's death. What kind of evil woman are you?
134.CHOLIBA:So did I kill your mother? Did I kill your mother? (CHOKING SOUNDS AND YELLING) Neighbours!
135.ZARA:Neighbours or no neighbours, you will be buried today with this stupid trinket if you don't get my mother's dishes back. You empty-headed, vacant skull, walking around pretending to be a human being.
136.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER...
137.NARRATOR:Greed has certainly arrived and made itself comfortable in Mabudi. Every home seems infected by it... even Yohanna's. Those who are afflicted want to take and take and put nothing back.

Something tells me THE ABAH MANU is going to be in shock soon when Moleke finally shows his hand. THE ABAH still considers Moleke a dear friend. He has never once asked himself why Moleke is playing the philanthropist. Bala has tried to warn him, but like the housefly that follows the corpse into the grave and gets buried, THE ABAH has rejected every warning and the grave seems imminent. There's more so keep tuning in...
138.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP, HOLD, AND FADE UNDER CLOSING CREDITS.

The End

Script written by Sam Kafewo, ARDA

Next Episode »