No Power (Hamna Umeme)

One week has passed since the entire island of Zanzibar has been without power. It is rumored that the outage will last three weeks—but nobody knows. This past spring the island was without power for four weeks.

Access to water is the major issue that has resulted from no power. Almost everyone receives water that is pumped through pipes into homes or to taps nearby homes. No electricity means no forced water.

If I was in the village in Mozambique this would not be such an issue since hand pumps are still used; but all hand pumps have been replaced by taps.

The first couple of days when there was no water I had people knocking on my gate at 5 AM requesting water. I was able to provide a few families with water from in ground holding tanks. I don’t have a generator so after the first couple of days my household is in a similar situation to everyone else (one huge exception is that I have someone that will bring me water whenever I need it).

The NGO that I am visiting has been focusing on delivering water to strategic locations throughout the day. During a day we can distribute water to maybe 600 people–this is only a microscopic dent.

One water distribution site

A quick chat while the water is being distributed

We only have two 500 liter tanks in the back of a van.

Some other water distribution vehicles.

Another major problem Zanzibar is facing is no fuel. This could result in even larger problems. If I can get my computer recharged again maybe that can be tomorrow’s blog. Sorry for delays in responding to your emails, I can only get to a couple per day before my battery is gone...but I still love receiving them :)