The Scariest Hour Of My Life

Imagine being told that the results of your final year research work at the university were actually going to be used by an international organization for a climate change conference. I wanted to do a great job.

I would wake up early in the morning and set out with my colleague to the rural parts of the Upper East Region of Ghana for data collection. It was a three-day data collection, but the last day turned into a nightmare for me.

The last community was so far from campus and we were told that after 5pm, we were going to find it very hard to go back home. But as the nature lover that I am, I got distracted by one of the most beautiful lakes I had ever seen. I stood by the lake smiling for more than 30minutes and I remember being so lost in that moment.

By the time we realized, it was 6:30pm. We started walking out of the community and just at the community entrance, someone on a motorbike stopped and asked why we were walking on that road by that time. We explained everything to him and he offered to send one of us back to school. I asked him to go with my friend while I keep walking and hoping to get another good Samaritan to give me a ride. He warned me that I was on a dangerous road and should be very careful( no details).

I wasn’t even scared after hearing that but then it started getting dark. There were no streetlights, no nothing. Listen, I have never been that scared in my entire life. At a point, I started telling God to show me that He was with me because I was too scared and from my calculations, I was going to walk for about 3 hours before getting to campus.

Like magic, the moon came out brighter than I have ever seen. I became very confident and started walking strategically like a boy just to confuse any dangerous person. I remember turning my cap to the left, removing my earrings, wearing my bag sideways, and then taking out a pair of scissors for protection. Anything to survive.

After some time, a motorbike passed by me, then stopped and reversed back to me. The rider looked shocked after seeing I was a girl and then asked me what I was doing there. Even before I could answer, he told me that it wasn’t safe to be on that road so we should just leave.

After riding for some minutes, he stopped to ask why I was there. I told him everything and then he told me I was very blessed. He then told me about how that road was famous for the number of kidnapping cases that have been happening in the region.

When I got to my hostel that night, my legs just kept shaking and I couldn’t even open my mouth to explain to anyone how I was still alive after walking for almost an hour on that same road known to be a death trap. I had to leave out some details while writing this post because it's too traumatizing for me to revisit that night.

Till today, quiet and dark roads scare me. The sound of motorbikes at night scares me. And if I could erase that hour, I wouldn’t even think twice at all. In fact, I’m even surprised I’m still passionate about nature because that love was what even caused everything in the first place.