The draining of the lagoon

Heather Phillips Blog

June 16, 2011

I’ve now been in Africa for three weeks and the village of Immuna for two. The most memorable experience so far has been the draining of the lagoon in Immuna. After a long weekend of rain, we heard that the lagoon had flooded into the village. The ocean and the lagoon are separated by a narrow bank of beach with scattered coconut trees and canoes. When the lagoon overflows into the streets of Immuna (an event I’m told happens around this time every year) villagers come out in force to dig a channel through the sandy bank separating it from the sea. We missed the initial digging of the channel unfortunately. A student of ours, Isaac, came to the gate of our compound covered in mud and sand to tell us that they were digging but we were occupied at home and didn’t want to venture out just yet. I don’t think any of us realized how impressive the channel was going to be.

We finally arrived at the lagoon about an hour and a half before sunset. The hand-dug channel had expanded into a massive, white-water rapid as the entire lagoon rushed out into the sea. The rush was strong enough to battle the waves coming from the ocean and completely change the landscape of the beach. A mini grand canyon had been formed with sharp sandy and degrading walls. Young men crowded dangerously near the edge while children inched up more cautiously behind them. When we got too close a middle aged woman grabbed my arm, frantically telling me in broken English to move back even though we were at least 5 feet from the edge.

At one point a large fish jumped up from the rapids, resembling a spawning salmon fighting its way upstream. Initially it landed back in the brown water but it took a second jump and landed on the beach this time, causing a near riot as the older children fought over who would grab it. In the end it was our student Isaac who took the fish home, though he filleted it and shared the pieces with those who helped him grab his slippery prize.

As sunset approached, the lagoon began to lose a substantial amount of water and the gushing channel to the sea calmed. Small fish were jumping on the lagoon banks and men came out with small throwing nets while women and children gathered the fish in their hands. Their catches would be deposited in wide but shallow tin bowls which the women use to transport various goods atop their heads. Children with overflowing handfuls of little fish squealed excitedly while their more relaxed mothers scanned the muddy ground for the biggest fish. The biggest I saw wasn’t more than a few inches but these fish would be dried and smoked and feed a family for quite some time.

It was a spectacular sight and the way the village worked together both to dig the channel and then to reap their fishy rewards was nothing short of heartwarming. On the other hand, watching the children gather fish also brought thoughts of the trafficked children that IOM has rescued and returned to this village. It was easy to see how children could be exploited to work in fishing communities. Their small hands easily scooped up fish and untangled nets. They listened quickly to the instructions of their elders and there was no talking back. But the conditions here in Immuna are vastly different than those in the Volta Region and I still struggle to comprehend what the trafficked children really went through.