May 7, 2013 (Tuesday)
It was a night of thunder, lightning and heavy rain. It seemed that the storm was right above
us. I’m sure it must have woken everyone
around. It poured and poured throughout
the night. When I woke the stillness was
alive with the happy noises of frogs. I
thought for sure the rains had brought the tree frogs together in song. It was an amazing and delightful sound and I
gathered my video camera to capture this special moment in a faraway land. As I looked out over the land I thought my
early morning eyes were playing tricks on me.
The garden area owned by the diocese but given to the Turkana to grow
vegetables in looked like a river! They worked
this land daily and the land was producing a good crop for them. It is valuable land as soil around us will
not produce any food.
I looked again and realized what I was seeing was truly water,
a river of water. It was early and as I
walked closer I could see that this water was moving fast and it was making its
way into the compound. The birds were
arriving in flocks and the garden area was now turning into a bird sanctuary.
The Sisters joined me as we looked over the situation. One of the helpers was brave enough to walk
out into the water covering the garden.
It was now up to his chest. Had
the water peaked or will it continue to flow toward our rooms? Last night’s rain was intense not only for us
but also in the Uganda Mountains and we were recipients of that water that was rolling
down from the mountains at a rapid pace. The Turkwell River that can’t be seen from
here but is still considered close by has expanded and is overflowing.
In a very short time the water comes rushing into the
compound grounds. It rises and enters my
room. My things are prepared and the
mattress and bedding have been put on top of the mosquito net frame. I’ve stacked some furniture and tied the
curtains up high.
The men come to help me gather my things and walk me
out. The water now up to my knees is
diseased water as the river is very dirty and risky to enter. Not only does one worry about the diseases
but the possibility of poisonous snakes being in the flood waters is very high.
I’m told to follow them as they walk a few steps ahead of
me. I’m walking on solid ground and can
feel the dirty, muddy water rushing by my legs.
Suddenly my body drops down into the ground. There is no bottom for me to place my feet
on. There is nothing but soupy mud
around me and my legs are within the earth.
I try to move to help myself get out but I start to sink deeper. I am completely helpless. The men quickly came
to my rescue. I was reaching my hand out toward
them as far I could. If they came too
close they could also fall into this “sinkhole or swallow hole.” They grabbed my hands and the two of them
pulled with all their might. It was like
the earth had me and didn’t want to let me go.
I would never have gotten out if it were not for these two men. I could not help myself.
Muddy and very wet we continued our walk out. Once they got
me out of the sinkhole they never let go of me until I was safely at the main
reception area.
The floor of the main entrance area sits a little higher and
was dry at the time however to my amazement I could see the situation was much
worse than I had thought. The river had
completely surrounded us. It was not
just in front of my room but we had water all around us and it was getting
higher.
The police soon arrived in their trucks and started to
remove us from St. Theresa’s. Their loud
authoritative voices were heard as many crawled into the back of their
trucks. “You want to die? Don’t you care about your life? Get into the
truck now
With very little
communication and not knowing where they were taking us we left St. Theresa’s
behind. We drove past the gate and out
the long driveway covered in water. At
the water’s edge were mobs of people standing and watching everything unfold.
We were taken to the other side of town to a place called
Bethany. Bethany is also owed by the
Diocese of Lodwar. It is one of the first
places they built when they arrived here.
It sits high and there is no need to worry about flooding here.
We wait and wonder what is happening at St Theresa’s. We hear reports that the water is still
rising. It is now waist deep and has entered every room. It is evident that we need another place to
sleep for the night. Some people decided
to call it quits and left the area early.
Others have found places to sleep in the center of town. There are many of us, IDPs, needing a place
to sleep. One of the Sisters opened a
door to a room and started to apologize.
She was sorry that this was all that she had and that it wasn’t
nicer. I didn’t have any complaints; I
was so happy and thankful just to have a bed!
Experiencing a flash flood, stepping into a sinkhole and
being evacuated by the police doesn’t happen every day and that's a good
thing! One thing I know for sure is
that I have a friend that protects me and surrounds me with his love each and
every day. His name is Jesus.
Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings...
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