While we were at the Hideout beach resort, we were looking forward to our next couple steps before our Close of Service conference. So we thought how it’d be fun to see the Elmina Castle, a really cool piece of history here in Ghana. After staying at a resort, we were looking for people we’d want to see along the way. Our first thought was our great friend Danielle Dunlap who lived near Cape Coast which would be a single day trip in to see the castle and come back to her place for the night for some fun with her. We were texting back and forth with her making sure she’d be there and it would work out. She sent back with her normal pep in life that all was cool and she’d be there waiting for us. Awesome, we were so excited! The next day, we got a text from one of her Volunteer neighbours that Dani had become sick and it was serious enough for the two of them to go to Accra for medical attention. We were very sad, of course because we wanted to stay with her for those couple nights, but also because a close friend of ours was sick. We thanked the neighbour for letting us know and we decided to just come to Accra the day we were planning to go to her site. Maybe we’d be able to visit her if she was still sick at the office.
In the tro from Takoradi to Accra, we got news that hit us like a ton of bricks. Another Volunteer in Accra was on the phone to Sarah and I could tell something was very very bad judging by Sarah’s reaction. When she had the tiniest composure to tell me, she said that Dani had become very sick the night before and was rushed to the hospital in Accra. Late that night, Dani passed away. When I would read books or hear the expression “I felt the blood sink from my head” I’d not known exactly what that was like. To hear this shocking news, I literally felt all the blood rush away from my face. It couldn’t be. No.
Obviously we were already on our way to Accra, and Sarah and I spent most of those few hours on the road in silence. I couldn’t imagine Peace Corps, or even our personal lives without Dani. And it was just insult to injury that we, just 36 hours before, we planning to be heading to her site to spend a couple days with her. We found our way to the Peace Corps office and the word had gone out to nearly all Volunteers, but only a few had shown up so far. So many hugs, so many tears. One by one, more Volunteers began to show up. Each one with another round of questions and strained faces.
The next day, all the Volunteers that had arrived convened to start to talk about getting the ball rolling on a memorial service. We started thinking about how we could best honor her, remember her, and celebrate her. About halfway through the meeting, we had a visit from Danni’s mother. I thought that seeing all of us together, we would see a crushed, broken mother who could barely speak but wanted to make an appearance. She walked in with the presence of confidence and poise just like her daughter always did. She had way more control of her emotions than any of us combined and proceeded to thank us for our service and tell us how important we were to the people and development of Ghana as Peace Corps Volunteers. I speak for the whole room in saying we were all thinking “how can this woman just lost her only daughter, and be giving us strength instead of struggling to breathe?” But that was the confirmation that this was Danni’s mother because we could see everything about Danni in her. It was almost eerie. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and most said a little something about how much Danni meant to each of us, and she thanked each one of us. Maybe it was because she knew she would have to go through this several more times throughout the next few days in Ghana, and then back home in Atlanta, and breaking down every day would be too exhausting. She joked with us about Danni, and brought us some immediate peace to a fresh gash in all our hearts. No one else could have done that for all of us.
Then we continued to plan the memorial and delegate tasks for the next 48 hours after Danni’s mother left. I didn’t volunteer to take a big leadership role because everyone wanted to do something for her and I would have gotten in the way. But every day, we showed up to the Peace Corps office to be present in the hustle and bustle of putting an amazing day together. Between 200 and 300 yards of personalized fabric was made in her honor of her love of Dr. Pepper in the traditional funeral colors here in Ghana. The fabric makers shut down their shop to work solely on this project and many people even had the fabric tailored into clothing pieces within 48 hours to be ready to pick up the day of the service.
My emotions were really up and down throughout those few days. One day I was completely exhausted from heavy emotions, and the next I was up and energetic thinking about how we had happy memories with Danni. Usually Sarah and I would break down together in the evenings when we were alone. At the office, counsellors were brought in to meet with people to talk about how to deal with grief, which helped a lot of people cope. People to speak, music performances, media to share, and so much more were being put together at warp speed to have a day that Danni deserved.
Friday, we had the service. It started with us setting up the place to house over 300 people including PCVs, staff, US Embassy personnel, and guests from her village at our Country Director’s residence. We all met at the PC office and shuttled over to his house for our own personal reflection service before the official service. We all got to share our favorite memories and get a solid round of tears out before the rest of the guests arrived. I got up and shared my favourite memory of Danni and how I’ll always remember her sense of humor. Then after an hour and a half, we started the main service which was full of fabulous memories and wonderful stories. Not surprising at all, but it was amazing to see how much Danni meant to not only PCVs, but staff, professional workers around Ghana, and of course, her village family.
Poems were read, songs were sang, and a narrative was given by many Volunteers telling anecdotes about her throughout her Peace Corps service. Toward the end, a full girls dance that she choreographed was done in her honor and Sarah was part of that, so she shook her booty in Danni’s memory. We closed with a special prayer and a toast of Dr. Pepper, her favourite drink, to Danni. Of course, so many tears were shed, and so many sad faces. But at the same time, at the close of the whole day, I think everyone felt that the day did Danni justice and she would have been proud. I felt more at peace seeing how Danni had changed the world for the better and how many lives were made more special because they knew her. We lost a huge part of our Peace Corps family that day, but we were lucky enough to have her be part of our family at all. Danni, there truly aren’t words to describe how much you’ll be missed. But God had a reason to bring you home early, so we just trust that His plan is the best. We’ll all see you again, in all your vibrance and glamour. Rest in peace.
