Imagine this.
You invite a friend over for dinner. You plan what you will
prepare and write a grocery list. You are scheduled to work until 4:30 and plan
to pick up the ingredients at the store on your way home. You should be home at
6, giving you an hour to prepare before your friend arrives.
Easy, right?
It is 4:25 and you are getting ready to send the final
e-mail of the day. You wait the 5 minutes it takes for the attachment to load and hit ‘send’… you watch the bar move across the computer screen
and wait… after a few minutes, instead of the ‘message sent’ screen you get the
‘Your Internet is Not Connected Page’. You ask your colleagues if their
internet is working. It is not.
You pack everything up while you wait, but the internet
doesn’t start back up. It is now 4:45
and you are running late. You decide to try to send the e-mail later in the
evening from home, after your friend leaves.
The commute home (a combination of public transport and
walking) takes an hour and you need 30 minutes at the store. You know that it
will be pitch black by 6 p.m. and it is unsafe to walk in the dark. You
decide to call a taxi – he greets you warmly but tells you that he can not pick
you up because he is lining up at the gas station waiting for a fuel delivery.
It has been 10 days since he last bought fuel at the pump. You call the other
two taxi numbers that you have in your phone (there isn’t a central company,
just individuals with cars) but they are also queuing for fuel.
You have no choice – you left your bicycle at work yesterday
because someone offered you a ride home. You are wearing a long skirt but
decide to tie it in a way as not be revealing. You can make it home and to the
store before dark as the bike ride is only 30 min.
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| Transport in Pick-up |
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| Empty Shelves |
When you get to the sugar isle, you see that the shelves are
empty. Last week you heard a rumour that sugar would be scarce soon, but you wanted
to finish your home supply before buying
more. You ask an employee and are told that the sugar is ‘finished’ (aka all
sold out) and that they don’t know when another shipment will arrive. Tonic
water, your friend's favourite is also no
where to be found. You improvise with other ingredients instead.
It is 5:30 and you have just enough time to get home before
it is dark. You unchain your bike, tie your groceries onto the back rack and
push it, squeaking and flat-tired up the hill.
You get home just as dusk is settling and start preparing
dinner.
Prep is going great – you have prepared everything and now
dinner just needs to bake in the oven. You
slide the pan into the preheated oven. You did it! Only 15 minutes before your
friend arrives. You can even send that e-mail…
Then you find yourself standing in the dark and silence… The
lights are out and the hum of the freezer has stopped. The power is out. It may
come back in 5 minutes or it could be 5 hours. Crap! You try to call your
friend to let her know the situation, but the phone network has also gone down.
***
This is a slightly extreme but not unbelievable example of
the unexpected surprises that are part of my daily life here in Malawi. Each one of
those ‘unexpected’ surprises has happened many times in my 6 months
here. In fact, the above scenario demonstrates my privilege – I have power,
internet, a bicycle, money to shop at the grocery store… Most of these unexpected surprises wouldn’t be possible for many of the 80% rural population
of Malawi, as well as many living in urban areas.
I recall the famous blackout of 2003 in central Canada – the shock
and fear that I felt when the power went out as I was lifeguarding at a small
community swimming pool. What happened? Was it a terrorist attack? What will we
do? Driving home there was mayhem on the streets as drivers were unaccustomed
to not having traffic lights. People panicked! How could the power just go out
like that? The region shut down. I imagine what my Malawian brothers and
sisters would have thought of our hysterical reactions?
Malawi is developing, and its infrastructure is different
from back home. This means things that never crossed my mind at home surprise me all the time here. These include commodotity shortages (fuel, sugar, medicine,
foreign currency), power and water outages, phone and internet network problems
and random stuff breaking all the time (e.g. vehicles, bicycles, electronics...).
In my adjustment, I have developed a two-tiered strategy:
1) Expect the unexpected. This
includes a number of techniques to minimize the impact of ‘surprises’; and,
2) Accept the unexpected. Equip yourself with a sense of humour and get over it.
1) Expect the unexpected
·
·
For commodity shortages:
o Often
rumours of a shortage come before the actual shortage. If someone tells you
that sugar will soon be unavailable, go stock up.
o I
don’t have a car, but those who do try to stock up on fuel when possible. They
also buy it on the ‘parallel market’, although this is much more expensive.
o If
you will need foreign currency, ask people coming into the country to carry
some for you. Every time you leave the country stock up.
·
For phone network and internet problems:
o Always
carry your dongle (also known as an internet USB stick).
o Most
Malawians have at least 2 phones on different networks.
o Having
a phone with internet capability really helps.
o Call
far in advance if possible. If your phone is not working but internet is, you
can skype call instead.
o Carry
a USB stick so that you can share documents without internet.
·
For water issues:
o Although
the water is generally safe to drink in Lilongwe, always look before drinking.
Sometimes it comes out brown (pipe problems), and then it should not be
consumed.
o Always
have extra water and a bucket nearby. Become well versed in the art of bucket
bathing.
Things breaking:
o Stuff
breaks – if you absolutely need to be somewhere on time, give yourself lots of
time in case your bike breaks and the pick up truck carrying your broken bike also breaks.
o Avoid
using a mac computer in Malawi as this country is where Apple products come to
die. If you must use a mac computer, do so with both feet planted firmly on the
ground to avoid electrical shock.
Aggression and theft:
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| Hiding $ |
o Malawians
as a whole are incredibly gentle and friendly. It is rare that someone will try
to rob you, but like anywhere, it does happen on occasion. Just
in case, I always hide extra cash on my body and don’t carry anything that I
don’t need to.
o Be
alert when in public places, especially bars where fights are common.
Clothing:
o I
always carry a chitenje in case something happens and I need to be covered in traditional clothing (for example the trouser stripping day). This is also
useful in case you need to attend a funeral unexpectedly (you should wear a
chitenje or long skirt to a funeral), or go into a village where traditional
clothing is the norm.
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| Tying Chitenje |
For power outages:
o If you are having frequent outages at a certain time, you either plan dinner before the usual outage time or prepare something in advance that can be eaten cold.
o You make sure that you always have candles and matches close by.
o I have a ‘home’ headlamp and a ‘purse’ headlamp (and spare batteries!) so I am never without a flashlight. You would think that having a flashlight isn’t always necessary, for example when you go to a bar or concert. Trust me – never leave home without a headlamp: Try being at a night-time concert without a flashlight when the power goes out.
o Ensure all that all devices are charged at all times. When you have power, make sure your stuff (especially cell-phone and computer) is plugged in.
o When working, save documents frequently!
o For meetings and presentations, make sure to have documents in hard copy and a flip chart and markers.
2) Equip yourself with a sense of humour and get over it:
Sure, it can be frustrating to wake up and find that you
need to bathe with cold water out of a bucket or when you have to be at an important meeting and the
minibus breaks down. That said, one doesn’t choose to come to one of the world's poorest and least developed countries expecting to live in the lap of luxury. In my case, part of my reason for moving here
was to experience a different way of life. It would be exhausting and
completely ridiculous to expect the same comforts as back home. Most of the
time, these unexpected malfunctions are completely outside of my control.
Freaking out, feeling frusterated or trying to control these obstacles is a
waste of time and energy.
After half of a year, I find myself much less shocked by
these daily ‘adventures’ (although sometimes you come across a ‘good one’). Oftentimes, they make for a good story and laugh.
They are also a reminder of how lucky we are to have water
and power and access to food, internet and medicine.
I admire how my Malawian colleagues and friends take
everything in stride. There is usually a solution, and if not, it is usually
not the end of the world. They have a sense of humour and a creativity that
allows them to move easily through precarious situations. I take my cues from them.
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