The weather here in the last few days has really changed. It started to be really misty in the mornings becoming really humid in the day. Temps around 45C are fine when it is dry, but with humidity it is ridiculous. Almost any movement and we're all (Sudanis included) dripping with perspiration. It makes people slower and lazy. We've taken to sleeping on the roof. The other morning the girls insisted it had rained in the night but somehow I had slept through it. Just a few dried splashes on my leather sandals to prove it. Last night, however we were at a dinner party sat outside when the wind got up, the sky flashed a few times and we actually had rain. Big drops for about five minutes. We just sat there and continued to chat - no one felt the need to run for cover. (In Zanzibar this week heavy rains have made 500 people homeless and there is a serious risk of cholera.)

We talked about water this morning. How much we need in our daily lives - drinking, hygiene, cooking, washing, praying, crops, livestock, gardens... we got up to 43L per person per day for personal use, ie before considering cleaning the house or manufacturing Coca Cola (UN estimate is 50L) The displaced people in the camps along the Darfur/Chad border region are presently down to 5L, and the rains are still two months off. Their daily temperatures are up to 50C.