Student confronted his fear of water during trip

Stephen Peprah appeared ready to surrender during his STEMCharter School Squads Abroad trip to Costa Rica.

Peprah, a junior, owns a fear of water. The phobia showed early during the Feb. 5-13 trip as he stayed on the sidelines of the group’s visit to the Santa Cruz community pool.

While friends Melonie Chaves, Alexis Perez and Julio Grullon implored him to frolic in cool water that measured 5-feet, Peprah stayed high and dry.

“I don’t want to die,” Peprah said. The playful student from Ghana clarified his position after friends informed him of his mortality.

“Well, I don’t want to die in the water. I don’t want to drown.”

Peprah delivered sustained resistance at Playa Tamarindo, a beautiful town in the Guanacaste Province, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.

Turquoise waters, waves and stunning sunsets happen here as well as an ebb tide that allows for long walks into the ocean.

Not for Preprah. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to drown,” he reiterated.

Except for a daily shower and water drinks, we were running out of opportunities for Peprah to face his aqua phobia.

A full slate of events on Saturday offered two possibilities — water tubing on the rambunctious Negron River with enough rocks, dips and splashes to challenge Indiana Jones or the hot springs of Rincón National Forest.

Peprah surprised as he slipped into his life jacket, lugged his tube to the Negron water edge and set off on his maiden voyage.

An hour later he slipped into the hot springs pools. Peprah followed that day with kayaking as he paddled with his partner Ronnie, our driver.

Next, Peprah enjoyed snorkeling and he tried surfing at Samara Beach as a variety of extracurricular activities followed mornings of volunteer work at Buho Okhy Elementary School where Peprah delivered impressive energy and a willingness to help.

The young man from Ghana did not die. Did not drown. Peprah may not be ready to join Baywatch or become a surfer dude but he seems ready to overcome his aquaphobia.

While, fear of water remains a powerful force, hopefully Peprah follows up with swimming lessons.