On September 18, Boris and I spent hours in the pouring rain, hauling water away from the house to keep it from flooding, while the streets outside transformed into raging rivers, wiping out the homes of those much less fortunate.
Pictured here are the remains of the home of sponsored child, Ouedraogo Mady. The heaviest rains came during daylight hours (for which I am so thankful), but continued beating away at the mud bricks throughout the night. As Mady and his mother were sleeping, the walls crumbled, fortunately falling away from them. At 2:00 a.m., depsite the continuing rain, neighbors came to help them gather their things and take them in for the night.
Many knew their homes would not survive the night and begged floor space from others. Throughout the night and into the next day, we heard the loud and eerie sounds of homes collapsing as bricks gave way. Now they start over again.
We won't know the extent of damage to the millet crop until harvest time; but rumor has it half the population is smiling and the other half is crying.
