The tragedies of children drowning
The tragedies of children drowning
The sad incident of Children drowning in wells, streams, the sea and other water bodies hits me like a sledge hammer thrown from above to smash my head.
Recently, many media houses have reported various incidents of children drowning, the latest was a report carried by Ghana News Agency (GNA) on two kids who drowned in a well at Osei-Kofi-Akuraa, near Adomfe in the Asante-Akim South District and subsequently died after being rescued.
The cause of this whole tragedy is sometimes attributed to an accident. But the truth is that we fail to some extent establish the true cause of such tragedies.
The first cause of children drowning is negligence. I quite remember that I witness one of these tragedies just within my vicinity. From the investigation I made, the child (girl) helped her mother to sell after which she ran errands and undertakes other household chores. She met her untimely and bizarre death when she was sent by the mother to fetch water at the nearest well. Luckily for her she was with her little sister, upon fetching the water from the well; she slipped into it and was “swallowed” by the well. The sisters upon sensing danger ran to the house for help but it was too late after they return with rescuers.
Further investigation revealed that the well has been dug to serve as a reservoir for building project but was left uncovered after the construction hence it served as a source of water for the people in the vicinity.
After carefully contemplating on the death of the innocent child, I asked, was it by accident or negligence by the owners?
Anyway, I don’t want to blame the constructors, for they never asked anybody to tap water from that well.
Let’s analyze this, in an environment where source of water is polluted by human activities, where stream of water rely solely on the rain, what do we expect if all these source of water becomes scarce? Obviously, human existence will become difficult without water hence the need to survive.
It is very pathetic when I see innocent children dying from something that can collectively be solved by the nation.
Through the provision of adequate water to these remote areas and hinterland the menace can be reduced.
It is surprising, anytime it is announced that Weija water will open the Densu river because it has overflowed it limit, I cry and ask, if millions of Ghanaians do not have access to portable water, why the waste that will be open to hound people from their house?
Another subtle cause of child drowning is the irresponsibility of some parents. The desire by some children to be left alone without any surveillance by the parents can easily cause such tragedy especially if such threat is within that vicinity. Again, a story carried by daily graphic on Monday, 22 October 2012 presented that four kids at Ashaley Botwe Lakeside were found drowned in a gutter.
Investigations revealed that some the children fished in the gutter anytime time it rained. One of the parents of the deceased narrated that her child left the house at 1 p. m., on Saturday to collect his school bag, although she insisted he should not go. She said after 3 p. m., she started looking for the whereabouts of her child, only to be told by a neighbour that he had been found in the company of three other children.
She further said a friend called to inform her that the attire Richmond had worn on Saturday had been found in a gutter near Japan Motors.
“When I arrived at the place, I saw the bodies of my son and the three other children,” she added.
In our traditional setting, a child cannot in anyway dictate to the parents hence the inability of the mother to stop the child from going out resulted in the death.
I remember my parents high surveillance one day saved me from such menace. For once I thought they did not like me but upon seeing similar incident, it made me to realize that they actually saved my life.
The last cause I really want to hammer on is children being force to engage in high risk business of fishing. Most of the fishing folks in our communities forcefully engage their children in the business. I remember one day I decided to tour one of our beaches, to my utmost surprise, children at age of 12 to 15 years where sailing on the sea.
Curiosity they say kills a cat, upon an interaction with most of the children; I realized that most have drowned in the course of learning how to swim without any protective measures in place.
My argument is not to say, people should not teach their children how to swim or fish but such people who are involved in such business should provide their apprentice with the necessary safety measures to save their life.
By Joshua Kweikuma Quaye
(Ghananewslink.com)
The sad incident of Children drowning in wells, streams, the sea and other water bodies hits me like a sledge hammer thrown from above to smash my head.
Recently, many media houses have reported various incidents of children drowning, the latest was a report carried by Ghana News Agency (GNA) on two kids who drowned in a well at Osei-Kofi-Akuraa, near Adomfe in the Asante-Akim South District and subsequently died after being rescued.
The cause of this whole tragedy is sometimes attributed to an accident. But the truth is that we fail to some extent establish the true cause of such tragedies.
The first cause of children drowning is negligence. I quite remember that I witness one of these tragedies just within my vicinity. From the investigation I made, the child (girl) helped her mother to sell after which she ran errands and undertakes other household chores. She met her untimely and bizarre death when she was sent by the mother to fetch water at the nearest well. Luckily for her she was with her little sister, upon fetching the water from the well; she slipped into it and was “swallowed” by the well. The sisters upon sensing danger ran to the house for help but it was too late after they return with rescuers.
Further investigation revealed that the well has been dug to serve as a reservoir for building project but was left uncovered after the construction hence it served as a source of water for the people in the vicinity.
After carefully contemplating on the death of the innocent child, I asked, was it by accident or negligence by the owners?
Anyway, I don’t want to blame the constructors, for they never asked anybody to tap water from that well.
Let’s analyze this, in an environment where source of water is polluted by human activities, where stream of water rely solely on the rain, what do we expect if all these source of water becomes scarce? Obviously, human existence will become difficult without water hence the need to survive.
It is very pathetic when I see innocent children dying from something that can collectively be solved by the nation.
Through the provision of adequate water to these remote areas and hinterland the menace can be reduced.
It is surprising, anytime it is announced that Weija water will open the Densu river because it has overflowed it limit, I cry and ask, if millions of Ghanaians do not have access to portable water, why the waste that will be open to hound people from their house?
Another subtle cause of child drowning is the irresponsibility of some parents. The desire by some children to be left alone without any surveillance by the parents can easily cause such tragedy especially if such threat is within that vicinity. Again, a story carried by daily graphic on Monday, 22 October 2012 presented that four kids at Ashaley Botwe Lakeside were found drowned in a gutter.
Investigations revealed that some the children fished in the gutter anytime time it rained. One of the parents of the deceased narrated that her child left the house at 1 p. m., on Saturday to collect his school bag, although she insisted he should not go. She said after 3 p. m., she started looking for the whereabouts of her child, only to be told by a neighbour that he had been found in the company of three other children.
She further said a friend called to inform her that the attire Richmond had worn on Saturday had been found in a gutter near Japan Motors.
“When I arrived at the place, I saw the bodies of my son and the three other children,” she added.
In our traditional setting, a child cannot in anyway dictate to the parents hence the inability of the mother to stop the child from going out resulted in the death.
I remember my parents high surveillance one day saved me from such menace. For once I thought they did not like me but upon seeing similar incident, it made me to realize that they actually saved my life.
The last cause I really want to hammer on is children being force to engage in high risk business of fishing. Most of the fishing folks in our communities forcefully engage their children in the business. I remember one day I decided to tour one of our beaches, to my utmost surprise, children at age of 12 to 15 years where sailing on the sea.
Curiosity they say kills a cat, upon an interaction with most of the children; I realized that most have drowned in the course of learning how to swim without any protective measures in place.
My argument is not to say, people should not teach their children how to swim or fish but such people who are involved in such business should provide their apprentice with the necessary safety measures to save their life.
By Joshua Kweikuma Quaye
(Ghananewslink.com)
Comments
Post a Comment