Tragedies happen

This one close to home, school and heart.

Excess rain can be a serious problem in Rwanda. Our beautiful mountains are also dangerous in the season of rain. Mudslides are a constant threat. Older homes made of mud bricks have a tendency to weaken after many years of torrential rains.

Dorcus, a fourth-grade student at the Urukundo Learning Center, was injured in a freak accident. Dorcus was in the shower in her home get ready to come to school. A severe rainstorm was up in the mountain above her home. The mudslides caused by the storm hit the house above her home, pushing it into the wall surrounding her compound. The wall then crashed into the home, causing the wall in the room where she was bathing to collapse and crushing the little girl beneath the bricks. The mud bricks used to build a house weigh 40 pounds or more each.

Rescuing her and getting help to get her to the hospital took much too long. She was rushed to Kabgayi Hospital and then to a hospital in Kigali. So much damage to her little body. In two days, she had three surgeries.

Doctors have done their best. Dorcus has a long recovery time ahead once she makes it out of ICU. Prayers are needed for Dorcus and her family.