The sea is busy swallowing up ancestral lands, cultures, livelihoods and dreams. Blekusu, a shy community that lies near Keta was hit by tidal waves that displaced 1,500 people in one night. There were similar incidents all across the coasts of West Africa. Joseph Adator (72) a resident of Blekusu had just been discharged from the Keta Hospital for heart related problems with a referral letter to 37 Military Hospital in Accra. I had no idea how bad his condition was when he joined the wife and daughters for a portrait in the classroom where they were about to spend the night. In the morning, I had to become his ambulance, driving him as fast as I could so he wouldn’t die from the heart attack he’d suffered in the night. His son Emmanuel and daughter Rejoice jumped into my car to accompany their dad, making his condition their priority in spite of their own personal headaches. Rejoice had lost her school uniform to the sea and needed to get money for school fees lest she can’t write her exams. Everybody says they lost their money to the sea. Her brother Emmanuel’s headache is quite different. His pregnant wife is a week overdue and could go into labour very soon. As we dashed off to Accra, I heard him telling the wife on the phone: “So, if you were to deliver today, who will take care of you in this chaos? Where will you stay? You can’t sleep in those classrooms with the fresh baby can you?” To some, the Paris Agreement is just another ego game. To Africa, it literally is about life and death. Photo and Words by Nana Kofi Acquah (www.nkacquah.com) @africashowboy (Copyright: 2017). #globalwarming #clmatechange #Ghana #coastalerosion #africa #blekusu #keta #ketusouth #parisagreement #tidalwavevictims
