Life between August to September

At times in life, when we’re faced with misfortunes, we tend to forget the good things that have been given to us in abundance. Sometime ago, I’d tell whoever was listening while I ranted about my country, that if compared to a football game, life was already leading a Nigerian 1-0.

As time passed, I realized that as Nigerians, even with everything that is going wrong, there are still things we should be grateful for. There are so many luxuries we don’t see as luxuries, that we enjoy and most of the time, we choose to fixate on the negative aspects of our lives. The sci-fi multiverse community posed a thoughtful prompt for this week. A prompt on natural disasters.

Source) I remember when I was very young, and a particular day my teacher taught about natural disasters. She gave us visual descriptions of how these disasters occurred, and my little self back then, thought a tornado pretty. Whirlpools of debris, stretching up to the sky, was something that appealed to my young self, who had no idea the gravity of that appeal. I even admired little sand dunes everytime wind blew, imagining how something so fascinating could be disastrous. I know better now.

Sometime about four years ago, when I still lived on a hilly street that was close to a river. Every year, between August to September, those who resided in the bottom part of the street, had to evacuate their houses. At that time of the year, the river usually overflowed due to the rain that had accumulated overtime, flooding the environment. Although I didn’t experience the flooding of houses firsthand, I got to see it for myself and it was horrible.

Flooding is the only natural disaster I’ve experienced and it was a scary one for me. Then, we woke up to news of wild animal sightings in the environment. There was a time an alligator was killed, two houses away from mine. Snake sightings? Those were endless. Water borne diseases were rampant in the environment at that time as well. As long as you lived in the environment at that time, you had to experience the impacts of the flood, one way or the other, directly or indirectly.

Source) This flooding was something I saw every year, for the four years I lived in that environment, and oh! It was torture seeing the victims try to salvage what was left behind by the water, when it eventually went back. No matter how they prepared for the water surge, damages seemed unavoidable.

Before I left that environment, those that erected new houses began building in such a way that the foundation was very high. So, whenever the water came, it didn’t get to the surface of the house and destroyed properties. Although this worked, there was still evidence of the water in the environment. Anything that was kept too close to the wall at that time, began spoiling. A sign that the water still found a way to make its mark on every part of the environment.

Sadly, the above only worked for those who were financially stable in the environment. Those who weren’t, had to go about their daily waters, cascading through murky waters that rose up to their bellies. A traumatic experience that was, for so many of them.

Thanks for reading.