PJ ALMOST DIED

After a long day of work, our team walked through the darkness to our humble rooms, ready to kick back and get ready for bed. Eric and Karin retired to their room, leaving PJ, Cole, Sammie and I. Sammie settled herself on the top bunk reading ‘Creating a world without poverty,’ sporting her headlamp, and sheltered beneath her mosquito net. Cole also sat himself on his top bunk, commenting on the strange creaking noises it had been making the past three nights. I emerged from our doorless bathroom after brushing my teeth just as Cole pondered ‘let me try something really quick, this bed just seems sketch.’ He then proceeded to lift himself up and sit down on the bunk with a bit more force, causing the wood and mattress to collapse onto the bed below.

The diagonal manner in which it collapsed most certainly would have seriously hurt, if not killed PJ, had he been in the bed below. You see, the corner of the wood frame landed straight in the middle of his pillow, in the perfect position to take out his nose, his eye, or hit his temple.

After this demonstration PJ and I stood motionless, staring at the scene in front of us. I peeked over to ensure Cole was still okay as he had not yet spoken, most likely out of shock. PJ reached toward the windowsill and commented “hold on, I need to put on my glasses.”

“HOOOOLY SHIT YOU GUYS. PJ ALMOST DIED!!!”

After the initial shock wore off we investigated, only to find poor bunk-bed construction, and wood slabs that were not properly fitted across the bed. With weight in the middle the wood would bend slightly, causing it to shorten enough to slip off of the supports it was supposed to be held up by.

We then double checked the other bed to be sure Sammie would not kill or seriously injure me in the middle of the night, but our bed seems to be somewhat more soundly constructed. Even so it makes some horrendous creaking noises with even the slightest movement.

Well, we moved Cole to the other room to sleep for the night, and my sleep was disturbed at the thought of being collapsed upon during the middle of the night. PJ said his sleep was also somewhat disturbed as he was scared for me.

The hope is to secure a new residence, as we now not only have spotty electricity, no doors on our bathrooms and no hot water, but also faulty beds.


T.I.G.H you guys… This is Ghana