Reuben's Article: Akosombo Dam

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!