In the beginning of January, Kimberlee and I traveled to the beach-side village of Ada Foah with hopes of seeing a turtle. When we arrived at the guesthouse after dark the manager informed us that turtles make their way to shore in the early morning hours and when we were ready we could accompany a guide to the beach. We had some dinner and by 10 pm we began walking. It was dark, but the light of the moon filled the sky enough so we could see clearly.
In recent years, Ada has been known as a location to sight turtles, specifically because the people of the village have protected them. The leatherback currently has the conservation status of a critically endangered species with an extremely high risk of becoming extinct, but this stretch of beach has become a place of refuge and safety. The mother turtles know they can come to shore, lay their eggs, and return safely to the sea; no poachers waiting to steal eggs or even kill for their meat. Rather, the village men will bury eggs if they are swept out of their holes and will watch to ensure the turtles return safely to the water.
At first I was filled with energy and anticipation at the sight of a turtle, but as each hour passed and my feet and legs were worn from walking far in the deep sand, I began to doubt whether we would have any luck. I was so eager but struggled to be patient and wait for the right time. Just as I was ready to give up, I looked ahead along the sand, and there it was – a giant leatherback sea turtle: five feet long, four feet wide, and two feet high. She was indeed an impressive animal, and justified her status as the world's fourth largest reptile.
She was inland fifty feet with her back facing the water. We sat down in the damp sand and watched as she spent time digging a hole with her back flippers, into which she laid at least one hundred eggs. Though, in the hour and a half it took for her to dig the hole and lay her eggs, the tide had come in and proceeded to wash her eggs out of the hole. At this, our guide promptly began to dig another hole and instructed us to gather the soft, bright white eggs (the size of racquetballs) and place them into the hole. We then buried them and watched as the giant turtle turned around and slowly but swiftly returned to the ocean, surfing on the waves, and finally disappearing into the dark sea.
At the ending of February I was on yet another adventure, joining Becci and Anna for a boat ride on the Lake Volta. The Yapei Queen is a ferry primarily used as a cargo vessel but has a small deck space available for passengers. The journey was thirty hours, complete with sleeping on deck, and the route is the longest followed by any boat in Ghana. It was a journey I will remember forever; sitting for hours at the port waiting to board, far past schedule (so typical Africa), then standing in line with the common men, women, and children of Ghana – still waiting, then entering the ferry, and scrambling to find a place to stay for the next two days.
Lake Volta is the largest artificial lake in the world, stretching north 402 km, and was created in the 1960s when President Nkrumah took on the ambitious project of damming the Volta River to generate electricity. Sadly, in process of damming the river, 850,000 hectares of land were flooded (7% of Ghana’s land surface) and 84,000 people were displaced. To this day much remains to be done to compensate people for the loss of their land.
As the heavy boat pushed through the calm waters I could not help but notice the hundreds of dead trees still remaining many feet into the water – a striking visual reminder of the past, the land overcome by water, and a history that cannot be escaped. The views offered by the boat were stunning, men fishing from their small canoes, the lush hills of the south and then transitioning to the flatter lands of the north, and small villages of simple mud huts with thatched roofs nestled at the edge of the water. On the last night as the hot African sun crept out of sight, setting behind the haze of harmattan, the water was still and the sky and water seemed to be one.
When the journey ended we arrived at midnight in the port town of Yeji and quickly discovered it had nothing to offer in terms of entertainment, so we made plans to leave early in the morning. However, as I walked through the streets, I recalled current controversy surrounding the port town and it’s infamy concerning child trafficking. In Yeji, as well as other towns along the lake shore, (despite its illegality) children are bought and sold to work for the fisherman. This slavery often results in terrible living conditions, working in unfavourable weather, eating non-nutritious foods, and non-sufficient clothing. (Check out the 'international organization for migration' website http://www.iom.int/jahia/page1666.html).
In our humanity and in spite of our brokenness the lines of right and wrong seem indistinguishable. A poacher ignorantly steals the eggs of an endangered species, selfishly thinking only of his survival. A country’s leader thinks it is right to dam a river to create a large source of energy and potential income, but dismisses the consequences and plans poorly. A mother hopes if she sells her children she will save them, by giving them work and education in a trade, ultimately offering them a future.
Somehow we ignore the big picture. We are distracted by the deceptive unity of water and sky and forget that they are indeed two separate and very different things. We are deceived by the superficial truths and we chose to believe the resolution that allows our choice to be right. God gave us a great gift in the freedom of choice, but perhaps it is that gift alone which consistently proves our sinfulness. However, once this is recognized we must take responsibility for it and fight to be better, strive to overcome our brokenness.
We need to listen to the call of our lives, to recognize what fight we were created to take. Is it to bury the turtle eggs when they are swept out by the sea, or to remember the past and past mistakes so they are not repeated, or to create awareness of child slavery? Right now there are thousands of opportunities for right to battle wrong.
What fight will you chose?
