Lilongwe, Malawi … The sign on the front of the Escom building read,
“Escom – Power All Day, Every Day”.
Now you may have already guessed it, Escom is the Power and Light corporation that serves all of Malawi, from the top to the bottom, and the most distant point in the west to the border along the east. The name stands for Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi.
All through our recent journey there was one constant everywhere we traveled. The ever-present reality was the fact the electricity would go off a large portion of the time “every day”. Someone said, in a moment of frustration, “You can’t trust Escom. Even in their offices they use generators!”
Today Was Like Yesterday
This morning I was up by 6 AM only to discover the electricity had beat me again. It had already left the building, in fact it had left a large portion of the city, and no one knew where it went, or when it would return. We could guess at least 4 hours, but probably more like 8 or 10. I was feeling sorry for myself (can’t take a warm shower, no internet connection, fan is off, no air-conditioning, and on and on.) Oh, woe is me! Then Wilson Tembo gave me a different perspective, and at that moment a new mental image came into view
Impact in the Village
A village woman awakens at 4 or 4:30 AM. She walks several kilometers to cut firewood, then brings it home on her head, fighting her way through the bush, over rocks, and along pothole filled roads. Next she puts a heavy bucket on her head and walks a long distance to a borehole to obtain water. With the bucket full, and perched precautiously on her head she traces her steps back home, builds a fire, cooks breakfast for her family, cleans the dishes, then puts an even larger bucket on her head, filled with maize, and walks 15 kilometers to the maize mill. The morning is well past and she has not stopped since 4 in the morning.
But just as it is in the city, the electricity is out all along the highway, including in the maize mill. The grinder is silent. Along with her friends and neighbors she sits down on the ground to wait for the power to come on so the mill can restore operations. Just as we are doing in the city she waits, waits and waits. However, while I am waiting in the comfort of the city, she is sitting on the hard ground in the dust waiting at the maize mill.
Wilson continued his story and I imagined seeing her sitting in the hot sun waiting for the mill to begin operating. No success. Discouraged and disappointed she walks home, 15 kilometers away. The next morning she will go through the entire process again, and the next days again, and again.
I stopped complaining. For me the lack of electricity was an inconvenience. Since there is little or no electricity in villages I thought the outages had little impact on them when it went off in the city. I could not have been more wrong.