Chickens ran across the road and lizards scampered up the trees surrounding the shaded grove where residents of Mafi Korpe gathered in their town, peacefully nestled alongside the Volta River. The villagers had joined with US Marines and soldiers from the Ghanaian Army recently to create a plan for their people to execute in case of a fire, epidemic, or most importantly, a flood.
Marines with Security Cooperation Marine Air Ground Task Force, Africa Partnership Station 10, observed the convention and offered assistance with the production of the plan, March 23 and 25. Members of the Ghanaian National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) helped organize the meeting, acting as Ghana’s emergency response team much like America’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“This exercise is to help us learn what to do if there is a flood,” said Ebenezer Adzakli, the district coordinator for NADMO. “What can we do for ourselves before we call on other countries to come help us?”
The village held an open forum discussion, offering ideas on the best way for the town to react in case of a disaster. Problems were brought up, such as finding a rally point for the townspeople to meet, getting food and water supplies, and notifying nearby villages of the danger.
While the Ghanaians brainstormed for an effective plan, Lt. Col. John Golden, commanding officer of the SCMAGTF, offered insight from the Marines’ experience in Haiti during Operation Unified Response.
“Most of the people who survived Haiti were looking to their government for assistance, but everyone thought it was someone else’s responsibility” he said. “The most important part of having a plan is that everyone knows what that plan is."
Golden went on to explain that the people of Haiti had to wait an entire week for help to come, with no food, water, or medical assistance during that time. He emphasized to NADMO and the village leaders that their local emergency management plan should consider that the remote village will likely have to remain self-sufficient for at least a few days, until the government is able to organize and dispatch relief efforts.
“This exercise today, and the emergency plan you come up with is your plan, your responsibility,” said Golden. “It is our hope that it can be used as a model for emergency management in villages all along the Volta River.
Mafi Korpe is the first village of Ghana that the SCMAGTF and NADMO have gone into to assist with the construction of an evacuation plan. Both groups hope the plan that is created, will expand to a national level, giving all of Ghana a better chance to respond quickly to any kind of disaster.