Photo By Koshu Kunii

We shall start off with natural disasters such as earthquakes. Here we attempt to play God by predicting their occurrence but have only gone as far as to obtain early warning signs by the use of a seismogram. This measures P and S waves that ripple through the core of the Earth like the ground is its water. At best we gain five minutes of prior knowledge to pack our bags, book flight tickets, travel a thirty-minute drive at best to the airport and get on the plane which would take another twenty minutes to lift off. Even with ‘The Flash’ – like speed, this would be impossible thus leaving us with option number 2 – running. But this option is not always taken as we blindly place our trust in safety. It is our beacon of hope. At most, we may duck down under a table, but our faith is in the system. We pray that the building stays. We assume that the steel pillars and shear walls won’t give way. But sometimes they do. And then they always cause casualties. Take for example the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake that had a total of 15,894 confirmed casualties. This was a monster of an earthquake having a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter Scale. Buildings that were proven to be quake-proof gave way here even though Japan has been constantly evolving their defences against mother nature since 1981. 

Photo by Joseph Chan

Slipping away from earthquakes, mother nature still angers. Dominica, for example, is the hub for natural disasters. With its topographic site of location, Dominica is most common for tropical storms and hurricanes. To make matters worse, Dominica is a Less Economically Developed Country, which means that it has inadequate resources to properly shield its people from the treacherous horrors. Schools and churches are used as informal shelters when the real ones fail. But with almost all buildings being constructed mainly of aluminium and timber, safety is known to be short-lived as these materials make it impossible to withstand whooshing winds and raging rain. Even running is pointless as many of the roads lead to dead ends. Volcanic eruptions are not uncommon due to Dominica being home to nine of the most active volcanoes in the world. 

Photo by Ian Espinosa

We don’t stop here. With our seemingly bottomless pit of trust, we leave everything in the hands of strangers – at times, even our lives. We believe that doctors have the cure, lawyers will only punish the unjust and police officers will catch the criminals. But this is far from the truth. In reality, there are stolen medications, bribes taken and innocents in prison. Recently on 7th of May 2019, it was found that more than 47 million prescription drugs were stolen last year. This means that, so many of us failed to obtain our needed, or even lifesaving dosages of medication. We pay with our money and with our lives for actions with consequences we do not deserve. Furthermore, in 2017, a girl by the name of Anna Chambers was raped by the same people who took an oath to protect those who are helpless against the harsh dangers of reality. The same police officers were then later released with no jail time despite the substantial rock-hard DNA evidence found. 

Photo by Joseph Chan

Hence, I ask you this – what is safety? Is it just an overrated word we use to build up our inner defences with? How safe are we really? Oblivious, we cruise through life with guaranteed safety as our guardian angel facing obstacles we hope to overcome. But sometimes, we can’t and then the world bursts our bubble and shatters our beliefs in the process. It is then we realise that just maybe, even safety can fail us. Our last resort; our safe haven completely washed away by simple actions and consequences. So, I ask you again - what is safety?