“This is an evil rain!” Sister Esther said. “What sort of city is this?

Every year it will rain for seven days nonstop. This year, it has been

twenty-one days! It is the handwork of principalities and powers.”

“Principalities and powers do not cause rain sister Esther,” Mr Cosmas

said. Rain is as a result of heating from the sun. When the ground

warms up, moisture in the ground evaporates and rises as water vapour,

it then cools and condenses into clouds and ultimately rain. If it is

raining more, it is because of global warming and other such phenomena

environmentalists have been crying about for decades now.

Principalities and powers exist only in your mind.”

“They exist in this compound as well and you are one of them. Harvard

professor.”

We were bailing water from the corridor as the deluge coursed

through the streets and into the compounds. Every family with at least

two occupants in a room shared responsibilities. While some bailed the

water from the rooms, the others worked in the corridor to send it

back onto the street. Those upstairs do not any fare any better. The

corrugated roofing sheets were rusted and looked like they were

sprayed with bullets from above. So on rainy days, upstairs occupants

at the first sound of the rumbling skies will place buckets and bowls on

tables, suitcases and television sets to collect their own share of

suffering. For us on the ground floor, our advantage is that the rain

has to be heavy and sustained before we go to work to prevent

ourselves from drowning in our beds