LIfe is Tentative

Life in Malawi is tentative. What is planned may or may not happen and the unplanned happens regularly. The unexpected is the most likely. This premise has been born out again this week.

Electrical power is uncertain. It periodically goes out for “power-sharing,” so one sector of the service area gets power while another sector is cut, since there is not enough power to go around. This is unannounced and usually lasts for an hour or two, but on Monday when the power went out with a “bang,” it was something else all together. Investigation proved that someone had stolen the oil out of the transformer for the sector that feeds the Synod and the unit seized up. This was going to take time to repair, since ESCOM (the electric company) does not have a large supply of spare parts. No one from ESCOM would give an estimate of time, since in all fairness, they really didn’t know. At the Synod, we prepared for a camping experience. A friend had room in his freezer to store my meat (praise God). Since I have an electric stove, I made plans to eat without cooking, for the most part, getting in things that didn’t need to be cooked. Wednesday, a group of us had planned to have a pot luck at my house, but we shifted that to the home of one who had electricity and I went there to cook my part of evening meal. Those of us without power were most grateful to the one with. Meetings were shifted from inside rooms that need lighting to areas outside or to rooms with large windows to provide light. Deadlines for reports were extended, since the computer batteries were running low and there was no way to print the reports. In other words, all firm plans became tentative, depending on power availability. Friday afternoon the power came back on and everyone rejoiced.

Fuel is scarce, both diesel and petrol. Even before a station receives a tanker, the lines have formed to wait. Men come with large containers to purchase fuel as well and then take it away, usually for re-sale at a mark up. This is becoming a profitable side business for many. The problem is that it makes it harder for the vehicles to get the fuel, since the containers fill faster and are serviced more easily. This week, in addition to no electric, the petrol in the car was getting low. I wanted to go to Ncheu on Sunday for Charles’ installation at his new church, but that became tentative, depended on getting fuel. Maxwell spent part of Thursday and all Friday afternoon looking for fuel, to no avail. Today he set out at 8 a.m. with hope since he had heard there were to be two deliveries. He returned at 4:45 with ¾ of a tank. He sat in three different lines, two that ran out before he got to the pumps. He used part of the money he had to purchase from one of the enterprising young men with the containers when he was close to running out of fuel in line. But he came with enough fuel to get us to Ncheu and back tomorrow, so I called Charles and told him we are planning on coming. The tentative planning is gone. Praise God for Maxwell’s perseverance. He asked for the “honor” of driving. Since he did all the work to get the fuel, getting to drive is only fair. So tentatively we set off at 6:30 tomorrow for Ncheu. I say tentatively since only God knows what will really happen. I just know what we have planned.

As I began to write this article, the power went out again. I continued to write, using the battery, with the tentative expectation that the outage was only a part of power-sharing. It was. The power was only out for two hours and I am able to post this. The tentative became reality, for now.