Up the Volta River Without a Paddle--or a Lifejacket!

Our retreat with the other senior missionaries continued and the next morning we all met at the MTC for breakfast, before piling into the temple mini-vans and heading for the Volta River.  Lake Volta is the largest lake in the world formed by a man-made dam.  Our destination was some small islands located below the dam where the river meets the ocean.  There are no amenities whatsoever on these islands and they are inhabited by small tribes of Africans who live much today as they did centuries ago.

We arrived at the dock and waiting for us was a large canoe-looking boat in terrible shape, powered by a very small, rusty motor attached with wire to the back.  We all climbed in, two abreast, and the boatman pushed off.  It was after we were a quite a distance from the shore that we noticed there were no paddles on this boat as well as no life jackets.  The tiny motor sputtered and groaned and most of us were uneasy.  Remember, nothing in Africa works well, and everything breaks down.  The river where we were was quite wide and two of the women could not swim.  We watched the natives fishing and diving for crabs, and finally reached our destination--a small island inhabited by a few hundred tribesmen and their families.

A young man named Chris and his assistant Jen accompanied us.  They work for a company named "Empower Playgrounds".  Children of rural, third world communities have generally never seen playground equipment.  They also rarely have electricity in their homes or schools.  This company has created an incredible, viable solution for these two problems: electricity-generating playground equipment.  As the children play on the equipment (a merry-go-round or swing set with a glider), a generator in the equipment converts a portion of their kinetic energy to electricity.  A large battery stores the electricity, which is used to recharge smart LED lanterns.  The children can then use the lanterns to light their classrooms and homes for studying and reading.

Dr. Todd Fife and his wife Michelle are the medical team for all of West Africa.  They are simply amazing!  They have a small clinic on this island and brought soccor balls and small toys for the kids.  We visited one more island before heading back to shore and our vehicles.

The next day we went to a baboon preserve.  The monkeys didn't come out but we hiked to a bat cave and watched antelope and ostriches.  We parted ways and headed back to our perspective areas--Sunyani being the furthest away and the most remote.  We all agreed the islands and the playground equipment were some of the most uplifting, remarkable things we have seen. It was amazing and humbling to see how some of these people are being helped by modern technology, even as they live in the most primitive of circumstances.