Shortages

I had started another entry but then we lost power (without which the router can't work) and so I thought I shoulld talk about electricity and water and leave the other entry for later.

We lose power a lot. Alice thinks that the power outages are longer and more frequent than when she was here 11 years ago. It's hard to know, though, whether that is a sign of anything. We're in a very different region (Volta as opposed to the North where Alice was in 2001-2). There is a big hydro-electric damn on the Volta River south of here and one of the volunteers here says that he's been told because we're right at the end of the dry season the water levels in Lake Volta are low and that affects electricity production. Whether that's the reason or not, it does seem to be a big concern for the country as a whole. John Mahama was just elected President in December and reading some of the analysis of the election, frequent power outages and the instablity they cause in the economy is an issue that came up during the election and something that the government is trying to focus on.

We generally lose power once a day, sometimes more. In practical terms this means that we lose lights and the aforementioned access to the internet. The bigger issue are the fans. There is no air conditioning here and the fans (in addition to cold Coke and Fan Ice) keep us somewhat cool. The power went out one night and it was almost intollerable that night without any air circulation. The house has a generator but it is very loud, so with the light and fan action comes a lot of noise.

The dry season also means that water isn't as plentiful. There is lots at the house to drink but yesterday we ran out of water in the resevoir that we use for showering, dishes and flushing the toilet. The staff had to scramble a bit to find more water. In the intrim they got water from the water hole that most everyone else in this part of town uses. It was interesting because we were told this was strictly for flushing the toilets and not even to wash with (and especially not to brush our teeth with). The basins sat outside the bathroom and were a bit yellowish and cloudy. It reinforced both how important water is to our daily lives and what kind of water the majority of people here have to make do with on a daily basis. We are definitely not in the majority here (something that I am reminded about at almost every turn) and so CCS arranged to have the fire department deliver water and fill the resevoir back up. This raises some awkward questions (are we taking water away from a potential emergency so that we can shower?) but these decisions are made by the staff here and not by me.

While on the subject of water, I wouldn't want to mislead anyone when it comes to showers. The house does have running water, but since being here I've only once had water pressure that would be considered acceptable by Canadian standards. Generally it's a trickle from the shower head and people often have to resort to bucket showers. Given how hot and sweaty we usually are by the time we're showering, none of this seems to matter very much because any water washing over your body (no matter how it got there) feels good!