Powerlessness Continued.....

So we are into our third day with the power issues…..but we now have information on the planned times for power and who will not have any at that time so that we can plan.  This is actually much better.  The situation has not really changed but the information is clearer and what the problems are and plans for repair are open for all of us to try to understand.  Clearly the men from the plant, from the housing area and whoever else is helping are working late into the nights trying to make a fix.  When the software arrives it should help with diagnosing the real issues and allow for a quicker and better repair, I think.

So what do you do when you are ‘powerless’……..Yesterday, we wives had several times of joining together in homes that had power at that moment …..but when the power goes….we all move either to another home or to ours to do things there. ….and, of course, hope that when we walk in there will be power at our home…didn’t happen but kept hope alive.  Then I cleaned the spices and organized them…..and cleaned the house…..and then sat down and played a game on the IPad…..till Bryan came and took me out to dinner with Andy.  When we came home, we were to have power from 5pm to early this morning….but it didn’t come on till 6:30pm……off at 10pm….and came on some time during the night.  Off again at 6am but the freezer was hard frozen and the fridge wasn’t alarming anymore….so all good.  Today I’m hearing of the families that had no power last night and my heart goes out…..I can face this with sleep…..in a cool room.   Many of the families that knew they would have no power went to the hotel to rest.

So this morning as I’m trying to figure what to do without power, I saw our gardener outside and I went to talk to him.  He told me how sorry he was we had no power…..and he doesn’t live in this housing development but in the community where power is off so much of the time so I said….thank you for your concern….but, this is normal for you, right?  He laughed….and then took out his camera and showed me the outside and inside of his home…..water to his upper ankles……all his clothing and books wet…and the mosquitos….”Ah”…he said….and had bites all over his arms.  Apparently they built a housing development behind his home and the water can no longer drain with the rains so just sits like a lake that includes his house.  One of the cleaning girls said her wall fell down on the front of her house due to the water….and I’m sure the quality of the bricks…..Alexandre is going to the government to ask for a pump to pump the water out of his home and the homes of his family that all live together in that little area that is now a lake…..so…..

How awful is my situation????  Putting it in perspective….. minuscule…..and so I post this too….knowing that it shows growth in my awareness, I hope….at least a greater awareness of how the people here are suffering all the time….not just for a few days.  And, I remember the years I first went overseas…..granted I was 23….but air conditioning wasn’t an option….my second place had a kerosene refrigerator…..because the power was so unreliable….and it kept food cool…..not cold….and we had lots of food available all the time……but did I ever complain?  No….it was the life I had chosen to live….just as this is the place  Bryan and I believe God has chosen for us to live and work….