ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, Ill. — Nana Ouro-Agoro says that her plan to put warning signs up at Lake Potter was well in the works before the tragedy that struck on Monday, June 17, when 10-year-old John Moo drowned.
In fact, Ouro-Agoro was in a meeting that morning with the Rock Island County Parks and Recreation Department, where her drafts for the signs had been approved. The department was on board, and she was ready to continue moving forward. Unfortunately, by that afternoon, Moo had drowned. Although Ouro-Agoro couldn't have stopped this tragedy, she hopes her project will save lives in the future.
Ouro-Agoro is the president and CEO of Akwaaba Quad Cities, a non-profit organization dedicated to making sure that immigrants who move to the area live safely and comfortably. She has been working to put up warning signs up at Lake Potter, in as many as eight different languages. The goal is to communicate the dangers of the Mississippi River effectively to immigrants and non-English speaking individuals.
Ouro-Agoro said that many times, immigrants don’t understand the danger that a river like the Mississippi poses, because in other countries they don’t have rivers with such fast-moving currents. She wants to be sure that everyone can understand the threat.
Understanding the importance of universal communication is something Ouro-Agoro feels on a personal level.
“I am an immigrant myself, French is my first language," she said.
And she feels that if she can put these signs up in different languages, more tragedies like the one the community faced on Monday, can be prevented. Ouro-Agoro is looking to get the signs up within the next month and then host a picnic at Lake Potter where immigrant families will be invited to learn more about the Mississippi River and water safety.
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