This is a continuation of "Life as a Construction Worker." If you haven't read that story yet, you can find it in the top left corner of the page. Now, I did say that this story is about construction projects we had far from home.

  Nearing the end of my 5th week at the construction site, I overheard the other site workers discussing about an upcoming trip. I was quite curious about what they were discussing, but I refrained from asking because I didn't want to seem nosy. Late in the afternoon, someone asked me, "Ah, Gabriel, will you be traveling with us next week?". I was quite happy when he asked this question because I knew I could use this question as an opportunity to know everything. I asked, "Where are you traveling to". He told me the foreman had gotten a project outside Accra, so all workers would travel to the place next week Monday. But we are not done here? I asked. The guy replied, "Yes, but the carpenters need to do some things before we can continue with our work." "So are you coming?" he asked again. I said, Yesss (At that moment, I wasn't sure if I would go or not).

  That day before we closed, the foreman confirmed the rumors and informed me that he would really want me to be there. I told him I'd first have to discuss it with my Dad. He responded, "No problem". I asked my Dad for his opinion. He said, "It was up to me; whatever I decided, he was okay with it." He then asked me where we would sleep. I responded, "Oh, I'm sure we'll sleep at some nice cool place; maybe many boys would have to share a room, but I'm sure it'll be okay."

  Although I had no idea where we would spend the night, I responded as if I was the one who booked our lodging place. Hmmm, Gabriel and making assumptions. I assumed it was just a light headache and ended up with "Shocks in the Brain." I assumed I could jump over the fence and almost got arrested by Soldiers; I assumed I was going to enter a spacious majestic ship but had to run to get a tiny place to stand. (All these stories can be found on the top left corner of the page). How many more lessons did I need to learn before I stop making assumptions? Fortunately, I am writing this story from the comfort of my laptop. I probably would have received some slaps if I was telling this story in person. I called the foreman on Sunday to tell him I would go on the trip.

  That faithful Monday, we got together at the pharmacy and arranged with a bus driver to take us to the place. We did not go with the foreman. One of the masons received some cash from the foreman for transportation and other expenses. On our way, I asked how we would be paid after a day's work, and they told me we would be paid when we got back home when we had completed the whole project. When they said that, I would have had a heart attack, but thankfully for me, my Dad had given me some money for food (more accurately, I cajoled him to give me money; it is soooo difficult to get money from your parents once you start working).

  We had traveled for about an hour when one policeman stopped us. Immediately, he stopped us; the driver got angry because he felt that was not a good place to stop us (can you imagine, are you the one to tell a police officer in Ghana where and where not to stop you?). When the driver parked the car, the policeman asked the conductor to open the door; the driver also told the conductor not to open the door and that the policeman could communicate with them through the window. Wow, the confidence, we all thought!! This sounds like fiction, but my people, it is not (I genuinely couldn't stop laughing while writing this story). In Ghana, most drivers fear police officers, so this shocked us. What the driver did infuriated the policeman so much that he forcefully opened the door and asked all of us to get out of the car. The policeman said the driver would drive the vehicle to the nearby police station, and they would solve the case there. The driver handed his phone to the policeman and told him to speak to someone.

  Apparently, the car belonged to an Army Officer, and the driver felt he could act however he pleased. Most of us do that. We use whom we know as a footstool to disrespect others or look down on others. After the policeman spoke to the army officer, the Army Officer told the driver on the phone to send the car to the police station. The driver didn't even have a driver's license oo. Hmmm, the audacity. The driver had to make arrangements for another car to get us to our destination. I have no idea how the driver got the problem resolved. We abandoned him there.

  We got to our destination safe and sound. The first thing we did was see where we would be working. The place just had groundworks, so our job was to put concrete on the groundworks and build pillars on the concrete. It was to be a three-day job. Even though we left early, we got to the place around 9:30 a.m. because of the police incident. The place was a little bit far from the main town (I have forgotten the name of the town). After showing us the site, the next thing to do was to show us where we would sleep and keep our stuff.

  When we got to the place, it was an uncompleted building (yes, ooo, an un-com-ple-ted building). That was the first shock. Hmmmmmm. Immediately we got to the place, everyone started searching for boards. I realized there were no beds, so we were to sleep on boards. Herh, that was the second shock. We hurriedly changed into our working clothes and went to the site. Fortunately, there was a concrete mixer, which made things quicker and easier. We just had to focus on transporting sand, cement, stones, and water to the mixer from the mixer to the site.

  We finished working around 6 p.m. When we got back, I realized my phone had to be charged. I wanted to place my phone on charge while I took my bath. Where can my phone be charged? I inquired. They said there was no electricity there, so the only way to charge our phones was to head back to the main town which was like a 20 minutes walk and beg a store owner to help us. (That was the third shock). At this point, I was just speechless. Herh, seriously. Like how. At this point, I thought, "Things can't get any worse than this". Well, it did get worse. When I was ready to bathe, I asked where the bathhouse was. To my surprise, in fact, to my shock, they said there was none and that I had to bathe outside. AHHHHHHHHH!!! SERIOUSLY, LIKE HOW!!!!. What annoyed me the most was that the guy told me, if I needed to ease myself, I had to find a bush nearby.   Oh my God, what at all is this? Herh, herh, herh, herh, herh, wow, wow, wow. Hmmmmm...

You know what is funny about all this? When all this was happening, I was shocked, frustrated, and angry alright, but I did not hesitate to do these things. I didn't hesitate to sleep on the ground, didn't hesitate to bath outside, or ease myself in the bush. I didn't hesitate because I knew deep down within me that I had no option. I knew very well that I had to manage these conditions if I wanted to get that 240 cedis.

  I've heard many people say, "Me, I can never be a cleaner, I can never be a mason, I can ever be a bus conductor, I can't do any of such jobs, I'm too big for that, me never!!!!!. Anytime, I hear people say such things, I just look up to the heavens and say, "Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they are saying".  In Ghana, whenever we hear such statements, we look at the person and say "en-to-woda, " meaning "It has not yet happened to you." The advice I mostly give people is to focus on praying to God and telling Him that you do not want to end up in a situation where you would have no option but to do the job you said you would never do. Because, genuinely, we all have no control over our lives. It is a tough truth to accept, but it is the truth. To be honest, if someone had told me a year before this experience that I would one day take my bath outside, I would have called it "The joke of the Century," but here I was doing that same thing because I was in a situation that required that I do such.

  After bathing, I went into the main town with the others to search for food. From the uncompleted building (our humble abode) to the main town was a 20-minute walk. Quite a long distance, but once again, I HAD NO OPTION!!. I remember eating three balls of Banku and Soup. I did not return with the others because they said they had to check some other things. I wanted to go to bed early because I knew the amount of rest I had affected my productivity at the site. It was a little bit difficult sleeping in the dark, uncompleted building, especially with the noise from the mosquitoes, but I forced myself to sleep.

  In the morning, I felt a tap on my feet; I removed my bedspread and realized the place was not dark. I assumed it was around 7 a.m. When I checked my phone, it was 5:30. Apparently, when we travel, we have to work from Sunrise to Sundown, meaning we worked averagely 12 hours instead of the usual 10 hours. Hmmm, ah, well, I went to the site peacefully. At that point, my body had now become a shock absorber, so this surprise did not have an effect on me. It was the same routine as the day before, just with more work hours. In the evening, I ended up at the same food vendor with one of the Masons. While eating, he got a call, and that sparked up a conversation about life. He told me that the call he received was about a Bus he drives. After working at the construction site from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., he drives a bus from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. to earn more money for himself and his family. Because he had traveled, he couldn't drive the bus, so his conductor had called to know what he was supposed to do. He told his conductor to work with other drivers for now.

   He explained that life is never easy and that I should be wise and never make room for laziness. That is one piece of advice that stuck with me that night. "Gabriel, be wise and never make room for laziness."

   We discussed how the other site workers spent most of their money on alcohol, betting, and women. He told me that they would not be doing that if they had seen, heard, or encountered a fraction of his experiences. It was a lengthy talk. You know this is the purpose of this blog. To learn from our experiences and that of others and make us better people in the near future. Because of that conversation that evening, I try my best never to make room for laziness. Maybe if I never had this encounter that faithful day, I would have been a different person now. My prayer is that as you hear my experiences and those of others, there will be a renewal of the mind.

  Those two months of my life were tough but, at the same time, exciting and a great learning experience. I mostly had body pains. Still, it was all good. I saved about 1200 Ghana Cedis, which helped me in my third year in school. I can boldly say that was my best year in the University regarding my finances. Don't forget to share!! And once again, if you haven't read any of my stories, you can find them at the top left corner of the page.

  The title of the next story is "When I Saw the Smoke, I Knew Gabriel Was Dead: A Near Death Experience". Stay Tuned