/ 21 March 1999

PRAYERS BRING DOWNPOUR

JUST hours after Christians gathered in churches throughout the Lesotho on Sunday to pray for rain at the injunction of King Letsie III, it began to pour. The Lesotho weather office predicts that more rain was on the way, Sapa reports. In the capital Maseru, people sought shelter from the rain along the main streets as they returned home from the church services. King Letsie had earlier declared this Sunday and next Sunday as national days of prayer for rain in the midst of a crippling drought that is gripping the tiny kingdom. Lesotho, which relies heavily on agriculture for subsistence, is expected to have a below-average harvest this year as a result of the drought’s impact on the staple crop, maize. The fresh rains are not expected to save the summer crops, but, if they continue, could help help in the cultivation of winter crops such as wheat, peas and fodder.