The Return of Zesa!
Again, I have been away from my blog for far too long. Partially lack of time. Partially because of this new phenomenon....Facebook!!! But today I thought I MUST post a little message to celebrate the Return of Zesa. Now for those of you not familiar with Zesa...they are a popular, much loved and much hated organization here in Zimbabwe. They are the providers (or withholders -- depending on the day) of electricity across the country. They are also the topic of much discussion, speculation and teeth-gnashing here.
Today, I would like to celebrate their return at my home and at my workplace! Since Sunday last week (a full 11 days ago!) I have been without electricity at home and at work. Now power cuts are quite a frequent thing here. But when the power is still out in the morning, having been out the entire day and night before, your stomach starts to turn and a minor anxiety plays with your mind. But you brush it aside, and think, "Oh well, Zesa has just decided to turn us off for a bit longer today! It'll be back later or maybe tomorrow."
When it is still not back when you test your bedside lamp the next morning your mild anxiety turns to total confusion. "What is going on?" you exclaim as you leap out of bed, bound towards your fridge, empty out all your meat and run to the nearest friend with a deep-freeze and generator. "Ah, there must be a fault somewhere, but they must be working on it" everyone grumbles at school.
By day three you are fuming by the time you get to school. Third day of no coffee; no hot water....and now your electric security gate is starting to malfunction. That night you have to make a plan for getting back into your home and millions of logistical equations later you manage to make it into your dark home.
Day four comes around and you can't stand the thought of taking another cold bath. You call every friend you have and arrange to go and shower, make coffee and sit and bitch about Zesa for at least an hour! This then becomes your life.......for another week!
By last night I thought I was going out of my mind. I had barely slept at home for a week. I hadn't bathed at home for almost 2 weeks. I hadn't bought perishable food for the same amount of time (not that there is much of that in the shops these days!) But last night was a friend's birthday. A friend and I had attempted to bake her a cake in the afternoon....but alas, it flopped, because the generator was turned off 20 minutes after the cake made it into the oven. Using our precious rations of sugar, flour, oil, we soldiered on and made another cake in the evening -- this time the generator stayed on until the cake was fully risen!
Sadly our spirits did not rise with the cake and we sat around bemoaning our fate in this dark land, despairing whether we would ever get electricity again. But then....at 9:00 I received a text message from a friend: "Are you at home? I just got Zesa back!!! Yay!!!!" I leapt out of my seat -- much to the surprise of my friends -- and rapidly sent an inquiry to my landlady. Got a similarly celebrative message back from her "Yes! Yay yay yay!!! Zesa is back, even without violence from us!!! You can come back home now!!" After making arrangements with others on my property to have the electric gate restored to working order, I settled back down in my seat and waited for power to come back on at school (where we were having the party). 15 minutes later the generator went off. A collective groan was soon followed by a load cheer when Zesa lit the lights for the first time in 11 days!!!
Why, oh why do we stay in Zimbabwe? It makes us grateful for the little things.
Today, I would like to celebrate their return at my home and at my workplace! Since Sunday last week (a full 11 days ago!) I have been without electricity at home and at work. Now power cuts are quite a frequent thing here. But when the power is still out in the morning, having been out the entire day and night before, your stomach starts to turn and a minor anxiety plays with your mind. But you brush it aside, and think, "Oh well, Zesa has just decided to turn us off for a bit longer today! It'll be back later or maybe tomorrow."
When it is still not back when you test your bedside lamp the next morning your mild anxiety turns to total confusion. "What is going on?" you exclaim as you leap out of bed, bound towards your fridge, empty out all your meat and run to the nearest friend with a deep-freeze and generator. "Ah, there must be a fault somewhere, but they must be working on it" everyone grumbles at school.
By day three you are fuming by the time you get to school. Third day of no coffee; no hot water....and now your electric security gate is starting to malfunction. That night you have to make a plan for getting back into your home and millions of logistical equations later you manage to make it into your dark home.
Day four comes around and you can't stand the thought of taking another cold bath. You call every friend you have and arrange to go and shower, make coffee and sit and bitch about Zesa for at least an hour! This then becomes your life.......for another week!
By last night I thought I was going out of my mind. I had barely slept at home for a week. I hadn't bathed at home for almost 2 weeks. I hadn't bought perishable food for the same amount of time (not that there is much of that in the shops these days!) But last night was a friend's birthday. A friend and I had attempted to bake her a cake in the afternoon....but alas, it flopped, because the generator was turned off 20 minutes after the cake made it into the oven. Using our precious rations of sugar, flour, oil, we soldiered on and made another cake in the evening -- this time the generator stayed on until the cake was fully risen!
Sadly our spirits did not rise with the cake and we sat around bemoaning our fate in this dark land, despairing whether we would ever get electricity again. But then....at 9:00 I received a text message from a friend: "Are you at home? I just got Zesa back!!! Yay!!!!" I leapt out of my seat -- much to the surprise of my friends -- and rapidly sent an inquiry to my landlady. Got a similarly celebrative message back from her "Yes! Yay yay yay!!! Zesa is back, even without violence from us!!! You can come back home now!!" After making arrangements with others on my property to have the electric gate restored to working order, I settled back down in my seat and waited for power to come back on at school (where we were having the party). 15 minutes later the generator went off. A collective groan was soon followed by a load cheer when Zesa lit the lights for the first time in 11 days!!!
Why, oh why do we stay in Zimbabwe? It makes us grateful for the little things.
posted by VN at 3:39 AM
1 Comments:
Hey Verity, way to soldier on there without electricity. I didn't have a water heater in Jamaica either. Sometimes I'd boil water to heat up my bucket shower, or buy a plastic solar shower. It was certainly refreshing after a long run.
Baking is always an adventure, too. Especially when you've got to use a generator. Well, lots to pray about I'm sure :)
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