There are moments in this world when we know we could have done more. The recent elections in the US, Brexit in the UK, among many others have left many people realizing they should have done more. The focus of the new documentary, Thank You For the Rain, directed by Julia Dahr, is a Kenyan farmer who plans to do everything he can to try to save the world.

Kisilu Musya is a farmer, with a family of 9 to support, in a dry, rural part of Kenya. His wife, Christina, helps him maintain the farm they work, with some of their children, while others attend school. Kisilu met Dahr when she was in Kenya filming about the effects of climate change. He was advocating for planting trees, fruit trees especially as they provide income as well as shade and preventing soil erosion. Spreading his message to other groups, Kisilu also worked hard to acquire funds for a motor bike that would help to supplement his income when the drought was bad.

Kenya has gone through several severe droughts (2-3 years with minimal rain) in the past 10 years, and agriculture has become less reliable. Kisilu was seeing first-hand the effects climate change was having. Thanks to his partnership with Dahr, and unflinching hard work on his part (and his wife keeping up the farm in his absence), Kisilu has been trying to spread this message across the world. This includes visiting Dahr’s homeland in Norway, and even attending UN COP21 in Paris in December 2015 advocating to stop climate change.

At once inspiring, and coming from a place of desperation, Mr. Musya is helping his family, his community, and working to change the world. “If you know anything good, and you don’t do it, the whole world will blame you on that. To avoid being blamed, I will try my level best.” If our best was all it took, I have no doubt he could do it.

Screens:
Tuesday, May 2, 6:30 PM, Scotiabank
Wednesday, May 3, 1:00 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sunday, May 7, 10:30 AM, TIFF Bell Lightbox

Tickets can be purchased at the Hot Docs website.