The Sky is Falling

A freak hailstorm startled us all this 75-degree afternoon and sent everyone running for cover.We had been gratefully watching the thunderclouds form, since everyone desperately needs water, when "the season of the long rains" started off with a bang...

And the banging didn't stop. We have described the sound of rain on corrugated iron sheets as "laughter on the roof." Well, the sound of golfball-sized hailstones (yes, they do exist) more closely resembles "cannonfire inside the tank." No one had ever heard or seen anything like it, including me. Mbwa, the emaciated mama dog who recently adopted Emmah, raced inside the house and hid under my bed for an hour.

We half-expected the hospital to be filled with head-injured patients when we returned for afternoon rounds. Instead, some badly-shaken staff members were still cowering behind closed doors. There are bullet-type holes in the newer plastic "skylight" sections of the walkway roofing in the Outpatient Department. We continue to marvel tonight at the power of the storm -- and to give thanks for the rains that finally followed.