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…