This short story, written by the Kenyan writer Grace Ogot, tell us about the customs and beliefs of the Luo tribe which was settled in Kenya near the Lake Victoria. The village was facing a severe drought and was in desperate need for rain. Most of the members of the tribe, strongly believed in the role of their ancestors as being Gods. One day, the chief of the tribe was told by his ancestors that the only way to save the village from the drought was to let his own daughter, Oganda, offer herself a sacrifice to the lake monster and, with this action, the rain will come down in torrents. On the one hand, the chief didn´t agree with his ancestors because he refused to loose his only daughter, but on the other hand, it was the life of all the members of the village which were taking risk. Of course everybody in the village approved the idea except for Oganda, her mother and father. Finally, Oganda accepted her fate and left the village, but when she was walking to the lake, she was rescued by a young man, Osinda. As soon as the couple fled, the life-giving rain fell at last.
What I find interesting about this story is the fact that sometimes, people are so selfish and cold that have the capacity for closing their minds and accept such a terrible thing as, in this case, human sacrifice without caring about the damage it may cause to a whole family. I think, these things occur because of the strong cultural influences on social groups.