What happened at Dodi

I was debating whether I ought to write this up at all since it is a bit heavy as far as content goes, but I thought it best so here goes. Our trip to Dodi island did not go as planned, its not that it wasn’t good or profound as you will soon see, but it just didn’t go as planned at all.
We started our trip a bit late because the traffic was bad and the tro tro took a long time to get to our pick up place. We eventually loaded up our people (there turned out to be 8 obroni and six obibini). We stopped off to get our trees at someone’s house and hit the road. Now, since we had hired the trotro, it didn’t need to race for fares ( a very common occurrence which just means that you get to the destination in a more timely matter) . Therefore he took his jolly old time and a 2.5 hour trip turned into a 4 hour trip. We finally made it to Anum Boso after stopping to pick up some food etc. we cooked over a coal pot which is an ingenious way to cook. Its basically a raised camp cooker with a big vent under it which you can fan to raise the heat and make things cook faster. We made rice and vegetable stew for 14 people on the coal pot and spent the evening drumming and dancing in the courtyard of the house in which we were staying the night. I’m still not sure whose house it was, but they were very nice and let us use some of there cooking pots etc.
The next morning we got up and set off for dodi island in a boat ( it took two trips in one long canoe) . The waiting around for various things took about three hours, and we didn’t get to our first destination until about 1pm. At this destination we cleared the bush with machetes and put it into big piles to be burnt at a later time. We were clearing things around a grove of mangoes so that it would be more attractive for volunteers and tourists to stop there and support the local economy.
We didn’t get to the actual island until 3ish and it was roasting outside. Sometimes I really wish I sweated more, I think it would be cooler! We prepared our meal of the day ( more rice and veggies) and decided that the best thing to do was go swimming. The good swimming place is a small satellite island about 200 meters from the main island, so we loaded up the boat to go there. This time for some reason, the driver of the boat thought we should just take one load to be more timely. The boat was really loaded and sitting low in the water, it was windy and the sun was going down. It was absolutely gorgeous. At this point however, the boat started rocking a bit and we started taking on water when we were between the two islands. Here its important to note that it is very rare to find a Ghanaian that can swim, its just not taught as an important skill. Also, life jackets don’t exist here. If you feel the impending doom at this point you are right because its about to get really scary.
As soon as we started taking on water the Ghanaians we were with started to panic and rock the boat more because none of them could swim. As a result we took on even more water and the boat sank. It all happened in about thirty seconds and soon everyone was in the water. If it had been all orboni we would have just swum back to shore since we were only about thirty meters away from it, but of course that’s not what happened. The Obibini panicked and started to drown, in the process they dragged obroni under the water as well in an attempt to stay afloat. The boat was upside down and could have been clung too, but the obibini were to panicked to listen and tried to climb on top of it which made it roll them off again. It was utter chaos. Someone managed to scream for help and other boats came rowing as fast as they could toward us. One obroni girl was missing and three of the obibini were as well. The rescue boats ( manned by children) got there just in time. A couple of the really good swimmers went under, pulled people back up, and threw them, literally, into the rescue boats. Everyone had some hysterical strength at this point, I really feel that had people not been panicked, no one would have been strong enough to throw people from water into the boats.
At this point everyone was accounted for and out of the water, but one obibini, named preke, wasn’t breathing and blood was coming out of his mouth. At this point I went into command mode apparently, and started shouting orders. I gave the unconscious man CPR and made him cough up the water, and I was just in time. He came to, but he had a concussion from being thrown into the boat and he went into shock along with the other obibini and the girl who had been pulled under. I made everyone get to shore and started doing emergency first aid. I was helped by the other obroni and together we made sure that everyone kept breathing, and we got medication and blankets to keep them warm. Preke passed out and was dangerously water logged. Sam put his fingers down Preke’s throat as a last resort as we had run out of ideas to make him vomit. Eventually he did vomit but it was only blood and bile… not a good sign. It took about three hours to make sure that everyone was going to make it and get everyone calmed down. I made the Obroni talk to the obibini about what had happened as a means of release, and there were a lot of tears all around. I didn’t cry however because I was in full medical mode. Even after we were out of the woods I had so much adrenaline all I could do was pace in circles. Suddenly I became very tired , laid down, and was immediately asleep. ( other people monitored preke in shifts through out the night to make sure he was still coherent) . By morning, everyone was somewhat recovered and just generally glad to be alive.
The main thing learned from this trip was that I need to take first aid courses. Since I am able to keep my head in emergencies, I should definitely have some more knowledge to put into practice. The only CPR training I had ever had was at age 12 in a baby sitting class, and thank goodness I was able to remember. So, like I said, the trip didn’t go as planned, but I certainly learned a lot and, i have a new respect for life.

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