I can’t just sit here. This is not an easy topic to discuss. At first I wanted to write about it to get it off my chest, out of my head. After it happened I couldn’t sleep, I took my computer outside, it must have been midnight, or just after. I was just going to write about everything that had happened. I went outside, but couldn’t concentrate. Nick came out just after I did, the power was out in the compound and he couldn’t sleep without the fan on. We talked about it, it was nice, he didn’t try to justify it, or make it better; he just listened. We must have talked for at least an hour. And it helped, a lot.
From the beginning:
2 weeks ago now, Sarah and I were taking a tro tro back from the beach to the compound where we live. We were about three quarters of the way back, when I saw a guy in the middle of the road, he must have just been hit by a car, he couldn’t stand up, but he was trying. There were people running from over the road, from all over the place to help him. We must have been 20m away when I first saw him, but we just zoomed past. Why didn’t we stop? People were still driving past this guy, I turned around to look at him, to see what was happening, and cars were still coming. I had never seen anyone hit by a car before, but I would imagine that people would stop, to avoid more accidents. It was quite frightening.
Last Monday, on the same trip back from the beach, Sarah and I were in a tro tro heading back to the compound. It was a bit earlier this time, the traffic was really bad and we were either stopped or driving really slow for about 15-20 minutes I guess. On the other side of the street I saw about 20 people standing around, they looked like they were waiting for a tro tro, they were just standing there. Then I saw a policeman, which is strange, most of the police I have seen have been at road blocks checking cars at night time. Then I looked down. First I saw the white sheet, it looked like an old plastic/ canvas sack. It was covering a body. I saw the legs, and a substantial amount of blood. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it. How long had they been lying there? Where was the ambulance?
Last Thursday, most of the volunteers went for burger night at the Canadian Embassy in Accra. At about 9pm, everyone except Sarah and I went home. We have met a few people working in Accra, and other volunteers we wanted to keep chatting with. So we stayed. At about 11 I guess we decided to jump in the pool, fully clothed. It was amazing. Incredibly refreshing, even at night the humidity can get pretty high. The people working at the embassy asked us to get out, or we wouldn’t be allowed to come back. So we did, soaked. By this stage most people were leaving. It must have been 11:30 when we left. (Time works very differently here, I barely look at the clock). We jumped in a taxi, that poor mans taxi, the back seat must have taken forever to dry. We were chatting and laughing about the night. It was a lot of fun. We must have been about half way home, we drove up over a bridge, it is connected by 4 roads and has a roundabout in the middle. There were cars packed all the way up the road, with their lights still on. It was strange. Then I saw the people standing around. It looked strange. It happened so slowly. Then we saw the motorbike on the ground. About 5m away, he was lying on the ground. Was he dead? He must have been, no one was anywhere near him. I don’t think he was wearing a helmet. He wasn’t wearing leathers. It must have just happened. His poor family.
Please don’t drive too fast, don’t drink and drive. Please wear your seatbelt. Please just be safe on the road. In Ghana, I’ve heard that it is more likely to die in a tro tro accident than from malaria.
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