Article #1 in the YCC Kids Club Ghana Student Life Stories Project
A Visit To Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam
By Reuben Ganoo, Age 15
Suddenly the bus was tilting on a curve and it nearly collided into a truck! We all jumped out of the seat shouting, “Jesus Christ to save us!”
To turn the clock back, I was fourteen years old and on a trip to Akosombo Dam organized by our school wildlife club. We were in a group of thirty-five students and led by a wildlife master. We wore white tops with yellow-sleeved t-shirts and black trousers. We joined the bus at five am, dawn, and the trip was going to take us three hours to reach our destination.
The seats in the bus were soft and fluffy to touch. I felt comfortable in the seat. “Tighten your seat belt!” yelled the driver at the top of his vibrating and alerting voice. We all tightened our seat belts, took a short prayer, and the journey began. We started to sing “Dzama” songs and it was like, wow! We sang loudly, dancing in our seats and making flexible moves with our body.
There was a complaint for staying so long on the bus, so the driver stopped at Kpong barrier so that we could relax and have our breakfast. I went to the nearby bush to urinate. I felt danger around but I didn’t know what to do. We shared a breakfast at the junction on wooden benches with lovely design curves on them. The breakfast was overwhelming, with its steams rising from the teacups into the air.
We had almost finished the tea with wheat bread and butter, but just then a loud voice came from the back. It was one of the boys yelling, “There is a road accident!” We went there and saw a terrible scene. It was a motorbike that had collided with a hawker selling beside the road! The hawker was injured on his right foot. He was rushed to the nearby clinic for treatment.
Despite this dramatic scene, we all forgot about the accident as soon as we caught a view of the Adomi Bridge. “I have heard a lot about Adomi Bridge, but today I am going to see for myself,” thought me.
Because of the heat, the bridge was expanding and you can feel it under your feet. The bridge often expands when the heat is intense, and contracts when the weather is cool. We took some photographs and then we recommenced our journey amidst the dzama songs.
At last we reached our destination, Akosombo Dam! We started to explore the place. “The dam normally cries when you step on it,” teased the receptionist. The students became frightened, but then became happy again when the truth was told.
We were shown how the turbines work as they maneuver through the water with their sharp blades. “You will die in the splash of water if you fall inside!” boomed the receptionist with an alerting voice. I became frightened and even afraid to move then. We were walking slowly to prevent death. We were shown how the plant generates electricity by using power and heat. There were some small vibrations in the dam. It was a real adventure.
We went for lunch at a small cafeteria shop. There was cutlery but the boys preferred using the hands to eat. We washed our hands in clean soapy water and started to eat. It was like a competition! The food was rice with vegetable stew. It was a delicious and tasty meal. The challenge for the competition was to see who would be the fastest in eating. We later explored the town and we bought some foodstuffs and left.
“The next excursion will be a trip to the Kakum National Park,” informed the wildlife master. We become happy and we slept in the bus until we were informed that we had reached our destination. We sang the last dzama songs and went to our families happily.
Lillie’s Note: Did you enjoy this article as much as I did? Please do leave a compliment, constructive suggestion, or question for sweet Reuben! Our whole class will be eagerly awaiting messages from around the world on this article project!
The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 4.2 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Nyssa M.
Tuesday 17th of November 2015
I liked how it was from a student's perspective of Ghana.
Avaughn P.
Tuesday 17th of November 2015
Ruben I enjoyed your story you could have a future in storytelling. There were parts that I liked more than others but overall I loved it. You are a great storyteller and you shouldn't stop.
Drew
Sunday 18th of July 2010
This was an enjoyable story, Rueben. Keep up the good writing.
If you like dams and hydroelectric power, perhaps you can visit our country and see this dam:
http://www.centralbasin.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/hoover-dam-directions.jpg
This is a picture of Hoover Dam, which provides electric power to a Las Vegas, a city in a desert-like region of America. Enjoy!
Joomi Kang
Tuesday 29th of June 2010
Hi , Reuben! I've just read your story for two times in Lillie's class, PLC, in Boston. I don't know where your country is exactly. However, your story makes me imagine the place which is described by you; Thanks!!
Best, Joomi
Imported Blogger Comments
Friday 28th of May 2010
DTravelsRound said... Great story! You are wonderful storyteller, Reuben!
February 11, 2010 9:55 PM
Aaron from Happytimeblog said... Hey Reuben... Hop the motorcycle accident didn't bother you too much, I've seen a few of those myself in Vietnam! Great peice, I've always wanted to come to Africa and the more I read stories and articles like yours the more I want to. You've done well and you should deffinately be proud... I'll be back for more!
February 11, 2010 9:58 PM
Lillie M. said... Thanks so much for these lovely replies for Reuben so far! He will be so happy to read them and the others that will surely come, and these comments will be very motivating for other students.
Subsequent posters: please also specify your geographical location and/or country of origin. It is a thrill to realize what a diverse group of people across the world are reading one's writing!
Thanks Again, Lillie
February 11, 2010 10:11 PM
Collins said... This is a very good article from you. It is the starting point of greater things that are about to be done by you in the near future. Just keep it up and you will become a very good article writer.
February 11, 2010 11:27 PM
aidee said... Thank you for sharing this article! I don't know if I will ever get a chance to visit the Akosombo Dam, but thanks to your vibrant recount of your visit, I feel as though I've already been.
Keep writing!
- Ashley from the Bay Area, CA
February 11, 2010 11:53 PM
Danae said... I really liked your story about visiting the Akosombo Dam. Using a flashback in the beginning of a story and going on to tell how you got to that point of the day is a very interesting and creative way to capture a reader's attention, like mine! I enjoyed this, please keep writing!
Greetings from Danae, an American girl living in Germany
February 12, 2010 12:20 AM
OLIVER said... Reuben, i have always seen you personally pick adventure books anytime you come to the library. A great job is what you have done telling the world you really bring to live whatever you read in books.
As Collins said "It is the starting point of greater things that are about to be done by you in the near future."
Congratulations, Reuben, for taking us to the Akosombo Dam and to the rest of the class, please put your best into whatever you do and you will never regret it.
To Madam Lillie, thank you so much for the great work you are doing for YCC of Ghana, Bright Star Vision - USA and for the YCC Kids Club, Ghana. God richly bless you.
Oliver, Sagakope - GH
February 12, 2010 12:13 PM
Thapelo said... The story that Reuben writes reminds of me such trips we used to make of such trips here South Africa in my village called Qwaqwa, they offered the only chance to explore the country outside the village. The crazy singing in the bus, road food made it a memorable trips.
Thanks Reuben for reliving that for me, those we the best of times in my childhood.
February 12, 2010 4:39 PM
Kamiel Verwer said... Dear Liddie,
I contact you because we are both blogging about our responsible travels and hence we target the same audience. Sorry I couldnt find your email directly.
We could share our audience. If you are you interested please continue reading...
My project in a nutshell From October 2009 - October 2010 I will travel around the world and find and support deserving causes (such as orphanages, streetkids projects, refugee camps, ngo's) by working for them, offering publicity and donating some money. I organize it primarily through couchsurfing and understand Charity Travel as a humanly rewarding way of traveling while helping the neediest people on our planet. I hope you like this idea - you are welcome to read more about it on
http://charitytravel.blogspot.com
I will globalize independent volunteering/donating by creating an example and proving it is perfectly possible to remain independent of the large bureaucracies ngo's impose - because the internet (couchsurfing, facebook) allows us to establish secure contacts. Interesting side-effects are the cultural exchanges between our different projects and the sensitization for the state of the world of the travelers themselves.
So, if this idea appeals to you - and to the readers of your blog - we could cooperate. To start with, we could simply place a link to each other's blogs to share our audience. I would place a link to your blog on my affiliates page that has a growing number of visitors, interested in responsible traveling.
Looking forward to your reply,
kind regards from Zimbabwe
Kamiel Verwer kamielverwer.blogspot.com (personal blog)
February 12, 2010 5:17 PM
Dana Cook Grossman said... Dear Reuben,
You did a wonderful job using specific details to paint a picture for the readers of your story. I am the editor of a magazine published by Dartmouth Medical School, in the northeast part of the United States. In any kind of journalism the rule is "show, don't tell" -- in other words, don't just TELL your readers you had a cup of tea, but make them feel they are there (SHOW them) by painting a "word picture" of the steam rising from the teacup.
Maybe you will have a career as a journalist some day!
In the meantime, keep up the good work in school. Your teacher, Lillie Marshall, was a friend of my daughter's at university, and I am enjoying very much reading about her adventures all around the world this year. She paints really wonderful word pictures wherever she goes, and it has been great to get to know you and your classmates while she is in Ghana!
Best regards, Dana Cook Grossman Director of Publications and External Communications Editor, Dartmouth Medicine Magazine Dartmouth Medical School
P.S. In case you would like to read any of the "word pictures" we try to paint about medicine, you can read our magazine online at http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu.
February 12, 2010 8:49 PM
Anonymous said... Hello, this is Reuben speaking!
I am VERY happy to hear your comments about my article! I will put on my best to write again. Thank you so much for congratulating me, and I send greetings to all of you and your families.
Yours Ever, Reuben
February 13, 2010 5:21 PM
Luddy Sr. said... What great writing Rueben! Very descriptive, even down the the soft seats on the bus. It sounds like you really enjoy writing stories, I hope you continue doing it!
Your friend,
Kwabla (Connecticut, USA)
February 15, 2010 7:52 AM
Kmo said... Reuben, you are an amazing storyteller!
February 16, 2010 12:47 AM
Stephanie said... Reuben~
It was nice to read your story! I know some people do not like long bus rides, but I think they can be a lot of fun if you are with friends-especially if you are singing!
~Stephanie (from USA but currently in Spain)
February 16, 2010 10:45 PM