confused...

power has been on today. First time in a couple months we have seen daytime power. We are all worried about what this means.


One of the hardest parts of living here is learning to be a good parent while being a good missionary. Lately, I feel like I have been better at being a missionary than a parent. Yesterday was the first free day our family has had in a couple months, so we decided to have a Josiah day: Ferry boat ride, ice cream, all the fun stuff, all day, until my evening language class. So we pack up, and...

a visitor arrives at the house.

When a visitor arrives, you host them. You have no idea how long they have travelled to arrive, so you can't run out the door. Visitors are always more important than anything else.

Especially when the visitor, a dear man, has just learned that he has AIDS. I struggled to console the man in Swahili, shared tea, fruit, and stories with this man, and offered a meager prayer. Language sometimes isn't the biggest barrier. Sometimes no words are adequate.

Then, our friend Urbano arrived. We offered hospitality to him, but also chose to preserve at least half the day for Josiah. So we cut our visit short, helped him on his way back home, then off to the ferry boat.

While we weren't the best missionaries, acting in completely illogical ways (who would take the ferry boat just to reboard for the return trip), Josiah's excitement was impossible to contain.

The words of Randy Harris ring in our ears: there is only one savior, and he is not me. Hard to remember that sometimes.

My language teacher said something similar in class: "Yani, do you expect to learn a language that took two thousand years to form in two weeks time?" So, we are learning patience, balancing priorities, and trying to keep things in perspective. And enjoying seeing our son skip down the road to catch the ferry boat to nowhere.

Hamna shida

(Swahili for “no problem”)

No need for alarm regarding the whole power situation here. These past few months have taught us that we don’t need power as much as we think. You can wash clothes by hand, use lanterns at night, sponge-bath with water warmed over a propane stove, buy fresh food daily, and allow the sounds of your children to be your music.

The reality that our region of Tanzania is about to be cut off the national power grid hasn’t changed daily life here at all. If in America, people would be charging to Home Depot and Walmart, gas prices would triple, and people would start worrying that apocalypse was upon them, and find some prominent Christian figure to agree with them.

Here, the greater concern is that the industry of the region will be crippled, industry that has fueled the last decade of slow economic turnaround, a turnaround that itself has contributed to the current crisis.

For those curious, our understanding of the situation will follow. But for us, the biggest concern is whether we should buy the refrigerator we have picked out here, or wait and try to find a propane refrigerator in Nairobi or Dar es Salaam. We know the situation will be resolved, we just don’t know whether the lights will be off for days or for weeks.

Okay, the explanation: The immediate concern is the falling water in the lake that feeds two major hydroelectric sites. The water level is only 30 cm above the cut-off point, and when it reaches this point, water will no longer be able to pass over the turbines in this dam, or the dam farther down river. These two dams have historically provided the bulk of electricity in Tanzania.

The major reason for this shortage of water is the drought of 2005-2006, which prompted the power rationing scheme in operation for the past 10 months. Other reasons include increased water diversion in the watershed of the lake, and rapid demand in electricity here, with no real increase in power infrastructure. Since the water release through the dams has been greatly reduced all year, the other power stations have been under increased strain, and numerous failures have perpetuated the cycle. Also, as the country has shut off daytime power completely during the past month or so, people have started working at night, which has actually resulted in an increase in consumption.

Some emergency generators have come, but there have been issues of fraud and delays that exacerbated the situation. The ones that have come have been installed in the capital city and in the southern regions, but once the dams stop producing power, there will not be enough power to keep the entire grid from failing. And since our region is currently without any power stations, the only way to keep any lights on in the country is to cut off the lights to our neighborhood, until an emergency power plant comes our way.

So no need to worry, pity, or send batteries. But do send greetings to our grandparents, who remember life before power lines and microwaves, and lived quite beautifully, as far as we can tell. If only we could find someone to drop off big blocks of ice on our porch, though…

powerless.

According to official reports, Mwanza will soon gain statistical notoriety:

In two weeks, when the hydroelectric plants run out of hydro, we will become the largest city in the world without electricity.


But if we had to live anywhere in the world without electricity, it would be here. People are flexible, and kerosene is government-subsidized.



And the house is moving along nicely. No power tools needed here, just lots of muscle.

Splash away, it's Ramadan!

Elijah's bathtime
Originally uploaded by lindermans.

We live in a country with the greatest electricity problems in Africa. But we also live in a country with a large muslim population and with a muslim president, and we are currently in the muslim season of Ramadan, where adherents fast for the daylight hours, and feast with friends and family after dusk. So the hours of our power rationing have been adjusted: now the power goes off earlier (around 6 am), but comes on by 6 pm, to help get the meals started for the hungry muslims. So our evenings have been less crazy, as we have a little more time to cook, eat, and heat water for baths before bedtime.

You can observe Elijah’s reaction to these developments.


On another note, the water department brought a water line to our project house yesterday. Tomorrow we build an in-ground water storage tank and a septic system. Lots of puns come to mind which I will kindly refrain from divulging.

our (future) home

IMG_1430
Originally uploaded by lindermans.

Here it is, in all it's glory. Though hard to see, there is a (future)guest room above the garage. So if you come to fix the place up, you can stay for free. Karibu!

And if you click on the picture, you may be able to find some inside pictures. Enjoy!