Picture this: you get off work, gather your children, and head to the airport for a journey across the oceans — more than 7,000 miles ahead of you. After the first leg of the trip, as you wait in transit, exhaustion settles into your bones and the tiredness becomes unbearable. You ask your oldest, barely ten years old, to watch over her sisters so you can shut your eyes for just a few minutes.
But no sooner have you drifted off than you feel the hands of your older ones shaking you awake — and hear the words no mother wants to hear:
“Mummy… we can’t find our baby sister”
Your heart drops.
Your mind races.
You are scared.
Your body moves before your thoughts can catch up.
Where do you even begin searching for a two-year-old who can barely express herself — in a foreign, crowded airport where thousands of people pass through every hour and every voice is a language she doesn’t understand?
In your confusion, an overhead announcement echoes through the terminal — first in a language you do not understand, then in one you are familiar with. A child has been found at the bottom of an escalator.
You leave your older ones with the stranger sitting next to you and run.
There she is — your baby — unable to explain how she got there, only that her sisters who were supposed to watch her apparently fell asleep shortly after you did, and she wandered toward the “moving stairs.” Well, kind of hard to have babies watching babies! The experience shakes you to your core. Maybe because you’ve seen too many movies… or maybe because in real life, people do actually disappear.
When you return to sit with your children — all of you rudely awake now — you and the stranger who watched your older girls begin to talk. She tells you how she survived the devastating 2010 Haitian earthquake that killed over 150,000 people (some sources report much higher numbers). She had been sent out of her class to an open area of the school as punishment. She was kneeling with a few others as she watched the school building collapse. There weren’t any survivors.
Providence?
Divine intervention?
A second chance?
She walked through the wreckage to find what had once been her home. Our conversation happened in 2017. She now lives on the West Coast of the U.S. The horror and devastation of losing everything may never fully fade. I bet she still has nightmares about her near-death experience. But she is here. She is a survivor.
Over the past month, the world has watched in heartbreaking devastation as the Philippines and Venezuela were shaken by major earthquakes — disasters that turned entire communities upside down. The victims, both the dead and the living, had plans for the next day. They had routines, hopes, and expectations. And in a moment, Mother Nature sent a natural disaster, rewriting everything.
Just a week ago, we woke up to historic flooding in Accra — a city submerged in its own debris. Some argue that this, too, is a natural disaster, one we have “naturally” created by choking our drainage systems with garbage and naturally building indiscriminately, clogging our water management systems through careless construction. Still, lives were lost. Still, families mourn.
Disaster never brings anything but pain and sorrow.
And yet, we keep going.
We rebuild.
We survive.
We honour what remains.
And hopefully in the case of man-made disasters, we put better measures in place for the citizens.
We all have one life to live.
May God give every affected community the strength to rise again — stronger, together.
And may He keep us all safe.
29 Responses
hmmm… its a wake up call for action beyond politics, for disaster know no boundaries.
keep it up
Not at all – natural or man made.
Wow. This piece moved me to tears. The transition from a mother’s worst nightmare in that airport to the devastating realities of the global climate crisis and the man-made flooding in Accra is incredibly powerful. It’s a sobering reminder that life can change in a single second. We truly need to change our character and take better care of the environment we’ve been given, while holding onto faith and resilience. May God continue to protect us all and give strength to every affected community. 🌍💔🙏🏾
Thank you sis. Yes, it was a terrifying moment I never want to re-live. And very true, we have to take care of our own cos this earth is all we have.
Mercy, Lord 🤲🙏. Let the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Everyday, Every hour, Every second, and Every moment, the best of words to come out of my mouth is, Lord, have mercy on me.
Thank you, Lady June for remembering us that, it is only the mercy that keeps man and divine intervention of God, sustains and Jireh for men.
Mercy, Lord.
Let the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Every day, hour, second, and moment, His mercy speaks.
However, we must deliberately take care of our watershed. As the name watershed, imagine when the rain settles on the earth, but there isn’t enough tributaries to share them to. That is what causes the flood. Help nature conserve the Natural Resources and watershed.
Thank you, Lady June. God bless you.
Mercy, Lord.
Yes, we need His mercy indeed and we have to do our part as well.
Very disheartening but I’ll blame it on our own people. They are all behaving like vultures, if the rain is not going to have any effect on the roof, they won’t repair it. A lot of us have plastered our compound with tiles and the like and the rain that falls on the ground is forced to move away instead of getting soaked to the ground…. I hope we learn a lesson. Very heartbreaking…
Very very disheartening sis. We all pray something gets done. The same story each year…
It was a very sad and disheartening moment. It is also a caution to be concern with what happens around us especially the environment we find ourselves. We should always be remembered that we can’t cheat nature. A big lesson and very inspiring to read. Keep the good job up.
So true. Thank you very much auntie Hagar.
In an instant everything changes. We are very thankful that our baby was found. Not every story ends with hope. It is just by the grace of God. Mercy and Condolences to those who have lost loved ones. We just need to be better stewards of our environment. Mother Nature will always have plans but when we deliberately annoy her, we only have ourselves to blame. Wonderful write up Sweetheart. It truly captures the sentiments of many people.
Yep! Truth! Appreciate you love🥰.
I believe we are often our own worst enemies. Why build on natural drainage systems and expect there to be no consequences? Why continue throwing trash into the environment and then wonder why flooding and disease become more common? Our actions have consequences, and if we don’t respect nature, we will continue to face the results of our own choices.
Say it louder for those in the back sis. We sometimes are just myopic in our thoughts.
May Jehovah remember those who lost their lives and comfort their families. The anxiety and dread alone!!
It looks like in recent years, disasters are on the rise… What we do post-flood is critical – careful how we eat outside, check brands of sachet water we buy esp in traffic etc etc
We can’t prevent everything but we can minimize the effects, esp, the after-effects.
May Jehovah protect us all!!
Amen sis! The aftermath of disasters can also be as devastating.
Thanks for reminding us that our lives can take a drastic change in a minute. Let’s all continue to love each other and do the things in our control to protect our loved ones.
Yes indeed Doc!
Let’s be each other’s keeper and comfort the oppressed. Look after our wellbeing and promote healthy lifestyles.
True Maa!
Thank you for sharing and helping us all take a moment to relfect.
God’s mercy is new every morning and but for His grace, we would all be in despair.
With regards to our environment and interactions with nature, we need to stop waiting for “them” (leaders, government, etc). There are so many things that we as community members can do for ourselves knowing full well that in the end it is our very own wellbeings that are at stake.
Tell me about it! True, it starts with us.
Life is how you make it .Every action /inaction one goes through should attach responsibilities . It can be knowing or unknowing . Those will affect you directly or indirectly. The most painful one if has a triple effect on others or make sure the pain will not destroy you but be a life lesson to alll. Don’t take life as something you have total control .There is a supreme being who has the power to see us through only when we trust and believe in Him and responsible enough. May the souls of the death especially the innocent in peace. Bravo!
Yes sis, responsibility is key! If we would all be responsible, we’d be in a much better place.
Risk is real in every facet of life. Incorporating basic risk management practices in our daily lives could have averted the outcome of the two incidents
Very true Mr. Ashidam.
As a parent, this is one of those moments that instantly stops your heart. I know my children are my world, and reading this gave me chills I can’t imagine the fear and panic in those few seconds. The good Samaritan you met and her story are a powerful reminder that life is precious, and sometimes the smallest moments can change everything. We can only continue to pray for healing and peace in this world. ❤️
Tell me about it sis! Yes indeed, just one moment…