I turned over to look at my phone on Thursday morning, sleep still toying with me, I forced one eye open to stare at the phone screen. There were a couple of notifications sticking to the screen. Above them, there was one from twitter. It was the kind I hated: the kind that either tells you what people are retweeting or how many of your friends were tweeting about a particular subject. On Monday, I got one about Bruce Jenner, later, there was one about 50 shades of Grey. I groaned and rolled the eye that wasn’t still buried in my pillow, “I’ve got to figure out how to turn this off!” But, before I could complete that thought, I read the notification from twitter: 5 of my friends were tweeting about “#PrayForGhana.” I knew there was a bad storm yesterday. What had happened?
I jumped straight to my twitter feed to find everyone talking: mostly about their broken hearts, disappointment in the Government, and some very devastating photographs. I scrolled down further, mildly annoyed with my non-Ghanaian followers filling the gaps in between with their tweets about summer anthems and funny vines, then I saw it! A picture of an explosion! Further down, pictures of cars drowning in a flood, more pictures of the explosion, then it got graphic. There was a crazy storm the night before, there were floods everywhere, and while some sought shelter at a local gas station they lost their lives in a deadly explosion as the “flooding caused the gas to leak and catch fire.” Some vehicles around town had also collapsed in a pool of water. The news was heartbreaking.
My last trip to Ghana, the country was clearly going through a depression. Christmas is usually the most exciting time in Ghana, but it just didn’t feel the same. The biggest issue was power outages. There was a power outage every other day. It was retarding progress everywhere, and despite that, and the many other problems the country was facing, there seemed a blatant disregard from the Government. And that, really felt like the biggest tragedy. I agree that sometimes the change is within us, but it takes everyone including the Government to get us there. When I left Ghana the power outages were now running on a schedule: 24 hours of no electricity, alternating with 12 hours of electricity. The first time I heard it, I thought an absurd idea like that would only last three days before they resolved it. Two months later, people had gotten used to sitting in darkness for 24 hours and only enjoying half a day of light every other day. There were stories of people dying from power surges, and an unfortunate one of surgeons operating on patients with torch lights because there was no electricity. It started the #Dumsormuststop campaign, which literally translates to (lights) off, (lights) on must stop. You can follow that hashtag or the PrayforGhana hashtag on social media to see more. *Warning it can be pretty graphic.
I know this is unlike my usual posts on here, asking you to see the beauty and wonders of the world we live in, but some time today when you have a moment I urge you to not only to pray for Ghana, but the world we live in as a whole!
