Yesterday morning I went into one of the worst slums in Accra/(Ghana as a whole). My friend was invited by his pastor to go along and attend church, as there is a man who has set up a ministry there. He asked my friend to join so that he might see how he can help the people in the area (and I tagged along). As we were driving there, they warned me about how bad the area was and asked whether I was sure I wanted to join. I said yes. I wanted to see it because while I have been living pretty comfortably in Accra, I am also well aware that there are plenty of people who are not. I felt it important for me to see the conditions that the people in this slum were forced to endure and I wanted to see if I could do anything myself to help. As we were pulling in, my friend asked his pastor, "Oh... this place? I thought we were going further up... This is the worst place you could think of..." At this point, I knew I was going to be in for a shock...
The slum itself stretched for miles... I bet if you walked around for three hours you still couldn't cover the entire area. It was massive. It was at the edge of a landfill... the people were living on top of a heap of trash. The smell was overpowering. There was trash everywhere, standing water, feces... the place was filled with flies. I saw children naked... people living in small shacks, if they even had anywhere to live at all. It was heart-wrenching. As we walked around a man asked my friend if we had come to arrest them. My friend asked why he would think so and the man responded that's the only time when people (outsiders) come there. Amongst all this you still saw children laughing and smiling. It was all you could do not to cry...
As we walked around, I tried to think of how I could help. I thought maybe this.. or maybe that.. but in reality, the place is so big and the people are so many that it would surely be nearly impossible to do anything. Further, my friend informed me that the slum was originally built by squatters, so the government has been threatening to move all the people out. But they haven't taken any action, so the people are basically in limbo. An NGO would not be allowed to come in and help or build anything because the place is just viewed as "temporary" and the government would not allow it. Before we got there and they told me that the government was threatening to shut the entire place down, I was horrified. I thought it was a cruel thing to do. But after visiting for myself, I think it is the better option. To clean the place up or revive it from its current state is not feasible. I think its better to move the people into different areas and allow them to start fresh. I think this would also help to reduce the criminal activity within the community. As it is now, the environment is a hard one to break out of and people are resorting to crime as a means of survival. No one should have to live as the people of this area are living now.
When I get home, I will try to help somehow. The people need medical equipment and medication alike. Vitamins would be great. I could even try to raise money to sponsor some of the childrens' education. If any of you have any ideas, please share. Even the smallest gesture could help someone who has virtually nothing. I cannot walk away from this without action.
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