AFTERMATH OF THE RAIN SONG by Dela Bobobee (always you kirsty moseley .TXT) 📕

plodding through waist-high flood waters.

In the villages, houses are more damaged because one of the main building materials for these structures is the easily soluble mud. The rain is causing the mud houses to wash away.

By nightfall the heavy torrential rainfall is turning nearly every village, town and cities into ankle deep flood water. Nearly every year the rainy season brings floods, with conditions aggravated by a lack of urban planning. There is also the issue of poor water and sanitation infrastructure.

Indeed there is also rapid urban population growth due to migration of rural dwellers to the urban areas in search of non-existent white-collar jobs and better living conditions.

The aftermath of the torrential rain is a sad story. The rain is leaving in its wake a lot of misery. It is bringing untold hardships to the people who prayed for the rain to come.

In the villages the toll on human life is as high as the towns and cities. Many people are still dying although nobody needs to be told not to go outside and to stay away from dangerous spots.

They all know from experience that depending on local geographical conditions, many areas have a greater risk of unexpectedly high tides, flooding, or landslides caused by the torrential rain. Yet they are still dying one way or the other.

The city dwellers are also having their own hazards to look out for. They are always watching out for possible flooding in the basements. Their basements could be easily flooded as water flow always goes downward. They know they must cautiously stay away from the basement during heavy rain and also not use an elevator if they need to go downstairs.

In the cities of Accra, Abijan, Lagos and other cities , just as in the villages of other West African countries there is an equal heavy toll on human casualty. In Nigeria flooding affected at least 100,000 people and 6 villages have been submerged.

The recent floods in Abidjan claimed over 20 lives, affected nearly 2,000 and resulted in substantial damages to property. ECOWAS has donated emergency support grant to the Government.

Some people out of carelessness are not staying away from flooded streets. They are carelessly wading into flooded streets and roads without taking into consideration possible broken pipes and submerged electrical facilities.

These submerged power switchboards and power lines are not only causing power outage, when exposed to water they also constitute hazards of electric shock that is sending many people to their early graves.

Aftermath of the rain song is our hoarse voices from dirges. Many people in West Africa are being displaced by the flood. We in some parts of West Africa are transforming many of our schools, civic and urban centres into shelters for the homeless.

Indeed it is obvious that the particular force and extent of the flooding this year is really overwhelming governments' capacity to cope, despite some preparation measures that have been put in place.

But many thanks go to the ever responsive International Society of the Red Cross and other relief agencies who are already swinging into life saving actions.

Many people are being rescued from disaster zones and evacuated into safe havens. Rural residents whose mud houses are washing away by the flood are being sent to sturdier accommodations in larger, water-logged urban centres. But many flood victims are still relying on the kindness of relatives and friends for basic needs.

Much kudos goes to the benevolence of the Spanish Red Cross. Their efficiency and rapid response strategy is highly commendable. Already the coordinators with the Red Cross have been distributing blankets and sleeping mats. They have also distributed jerry cans for storing drinking water, purification tablets, and soap. They have also seen the importance to share insecticide-treated mosquito nets to guard against malaria.

Indeed the Red Cross rescue operations is continuing for more than 800,000 residents of West Africa who are being uprooted by torrential rains since July.

The ever responsive and resilient American Red Cross flood relief specialists are still touring some countries. They are surveying crop destruction. They are still carrying out food need assessments for about 95,000 of the neediest victims in two affected countries.

The whole of western Africa is affected one way or the other. About fourteen other West and Central African countries are also being hit by the excessive rainy season.

And so when others curl up with books in their hands in the comfort of their solidly structured cosy homes, and wish for rain stories to be told, our own rain story may not sound like a blissful and romantic love story. It has a bitter taste and perhaps a very plaintive tinge.

But it is still a rain story all the same. The story may appear very brief but does not lack depths. It is swift and memorable for that is what it is meant to be. A brief grim rain story.

But before they start to sing any rain song, they must also know that in every village, town and cities in West Africa, this rain song is a paradox. It also has another bleak connotative undertone.

But the fact still remains that natural disasters are universal. There would always be disastrous torrential rains causing erosion and flooding in my little town of Battor and the rest of West Africa, just as there would also be devastating flooding in Britain, Philippines, Istanbul, Turkey and Guatemala.

Perhaps there would be more other grim stories of lethal typhoons in Japan, and earthquakes in China. In the battlefield of life, just as in the battlefield of the African savannah, we cry for the owner of the chick at the same time cry for the hawk that must feed its hungry nestling brood.

In Africa we cry for the unfortunate zebra and also cry for the hungry lions that prey on them. But life continues in the universal brotherhood of our common earthly existence.

The rain is part of our lives; our very existence depends on this live-giving liquid. It may sound rather ironic that this same rain that is so life sustaining could as well act as a life destroyer. But it makes more sense to me. To be able to capture infinity one must become one with nature.

There is an Ewe adage which says that, "The same water that a fish comfortably lives in, swims and that which passes harmlessly through its gills, is the same water that is used in cooking it in a soup".


We are still in the early month of October. The rain is still pouring heavily in many parts of West Africa. The death toll of flood disaster victims is increasing every day. We don’t know how long it will take. It is not yet the end of the rainy season so we do not know just how bad it will get, but we do know the situation is already very serious.

Forecasters are advising that the magnitude of this year’s water fall may be greater than usual. How long it would take and how devastating it would be is yet unknown.

It is indeed a matter of course that during such natural disasters, heroes would surely emerge. As if it is not already ironic that those who pray for the rain to come are being killed by the rain, we are also seeing rescue workers risking their own lives in rescue operations. Some are also dying in the process of saving others in distress.

Perhaps if that touching aspect is not ironic enough to draw sympathy, the grim spectacle of an exhausted rescue worker gingerly lifting the mud covered dead body of a little child from a submerged canoe would draw some tears from some weak-hearted onlookers.

For these brave heroes, we can only get the solace in the fact that they will forever remain in the bosom of our creator. Their heroic deeds shall forever remain fresh in our minds, and also in the evergreen annals of great legends of Africa.

But one thing is certain, after rain comes the sunshine. This shows the ability of God for rejuvenation. We have come to realize that natural disasters are not to been seen as an indifference of our creator. The regenerative power of creative essence portrays God's bountiful provisions and blessings for mankind. The rain in iteslf , in spite of its disastrous trends, is also an agent of cleansing and restoration.

Infact, if not for the grace of God many of us would have been consumed. Certainly His thoughts for us are not of evil but of good that would take us to expected end. For His mercies endureth forever.

West Africans are not strangers to heavy rainy seasons. As usual we shall wait for the rains to cease. We shall pick the fragments of our shattered dreams and start to build them all over again. We shall get along with our lives somehow. We always do. Imprint

Publication Date: 10-07-2009

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Dedication:
I dedicate this short story to the numerous flood victims of West Africa , and the relentless relief aid workers in flood affected zones.