Narrow Escape

I sat with the two girls, facing the little creek that flowed past their house, helping them pronounce English words. My ears caught a rumbling noise. My brain thought it sounded like thunder, my eyes looking at the blue sky above thought something else. A few minutes later I heard more rumbling. What could it be? Peering between the houses and walls surrounding us I glimpsed dark clouds moving into view.

"Let's go, Rachel! Quick! It's going to start raining," the one girl said as she stood up.

Sure enough, you could hear the rain coming through the neighborhood, heading straight for us. Too late. We wouldn't have time to make it to my car before the rain reached us. Gathering up the notebooks and my purse we ducked into the small house just in time.

We sat on empty rice sacks on the dirt floor in the dim interior looking out at the pouring rain. After a few minutes, I pulled my phone out and played one of the Gospel songs I have. They tried listening for English words they knew. We talked and laughed and ate roasted peanuts. 

Daylight started slipping away behind the already dark clouds. The rain let up enough the grandmother said I should try getting to my car. Stepping out into the yard I heard a torrent of rushing water. Looking down the bank to the creek I saw raging brown water, churning with debris. It had tripled or quadrupled in size.

The two girls stood on either side of me, one holding an umbrella over us. The girl on my right said if anyone tried crossing, they would be swept away and drowned in an instant. We saw movement up the creek, a group of people standing near the bank. One of the men inched into the edges of the water. We watched in horror. One of the girls started screaming for him not to do it. The other one closed her eyes. My heart stopped and I put my hand over my mouth. He went down, but a split second before getting swept away he managed to drag himself back up the bank, soaked and shaking, but alive. 

My heart started beating again. I removed my hand from my mouth. The one girl opened her eyes and breathed out. The other girl told her grandmother inside the house what had just happened. Relieved I had not just watched someone die, we made our way through the muddy pathways to my car.

December is the start of the rainy season here. The rains are needed for the crops to grow, but excess rain can cause damage to the mud houses and dirt roads in the outlying neighborhoods. Pray for the right amount of rain and protection for the vulnerable.