Two nights ago the electricity went out just before dinner. This is a fairly regular occurrence out here at Camp Langano which is why we have a back up generator that can power most of the lights around camp but few, if any, appliances. As I went to start the generator, it proceeded to make a horrible sound and refused to start. Thus, 80 campers enjoyed a romantic candle lit dinner.
Yesterday we were still out of power as I left for town to gather supplies for some of our construction projects. I was able to many of the things on my list (I don’t think I have ever been able to find everything from a list in one trip!) Just before my last stop on the way back to camp, I got a call from our camp manager. He asked me to stop by the electric company office to pick up two technicians. Sure I said, as I realized I had no idea where the office was located. Fortunately the store owner at my last stop was willing to come in the car with me and show me where the office was back off the main road. When I arrived, the technicians tried to explain that they did not have any parts to fix what they assumed the problem was. We went back and forth for a while (in their broken English and my miserable Amharic) before a man in plain clothes came walking down the street and told them to get in the van and go with me. I think he may have been a manager, or maybe they were just scared of the pliers in his back pocket ;)
So we began the long drive back to camp which is made up of a paved “highway” and two, progressively worse, dirt roads. About half way down the dirt roads they motioned for me to stop. After some walking and talking with locals, they realized the problem was not at the transformer on our compound as previously thought. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to get a phone call connected back to our camp manager for him to translate what the technicians are trying to say. We finally connected and he was able to talk with them. His instructions to me … just drive wherever they want, they think the problem is in another area. Back to the paved road we went and another 20+ kilometers in the opposite direction. Once again they motioned for me to stop. This time they wanted their tools from the back (a long pole and tree climbing shoes). Off into a field of corn, they trekked. In the distance I saw their pole extended up to the power line, one piece came down then back up, and again and again. Then they came back to the car and said to take them back to Negali (where I picked them up).
We returned, I paid them a “per diem” for taking time out of their day to come and fix our problem and then I finally headed back home. You see, out here, the electric company does not have many, if any, vehicles. So if you want something fixed, you typically have to go pick them up, take them home and pay them, even if it is their own equipment that is broken. Haha, well at least our power was out for less than 24 hours so we didn’t loose any food and it only took me about 200 km of driving! Now to figure out how to get the generator fixed out here in the middle of nowhere … how many trips will it take to get the parts and technician here for that? :)
Yesterday we were still out of power as I left for town to gather supplies for some of our construction projects. I was able to many of the things on my list (I don’t think I have ever been able to find everything from a list in one trip!) Just before my last stop on the way back to camp, I got a call from our camp manager. He asked me to stop by the electric company office to pick up two technicians. Sure I said, as I realized I had no idea where the office was located. Fortunately the store owner at my last stop was willing to come in the car with me and show me where the office was back off the main road. When I arrived, the technicians tried to explain that they did not have any parts to fix what they assumed the problem was. We went back and forth for a while (in their broken English and my miserable Amharic) before a man in plain clothes came walking down the street and told them to get in the van and go with me. I think he may have been a manager, or maybe they were just scared of the pliers in his back pocket ;)
So we began the long drive back to camp which is made up of a paved “highway” and two, progressively worse, dirt roads. About half way down the dirt roads they motioned for me to stop. After some walking and talking with locals, they realized the problem was not at the transformer on our compound as previously thought. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to get a phone call connected back to our camp manager for him to translate what the technicians are trying to say. We finally connected and he was able to talk with them. His instructions to me … just drive wherever they want, they think the problem is in another area. Back to the paved road we went and another 20+ kilometers in the opposite direction. Once again they motioned for me to stop. This time they wanted their tools from the back (a long pole and tree climbing shoes). Off into a field of corn, they trekked. In the distance I saw their pole extended up to the power line, one piece came down then back up, and again and again. Then they came back to the car and said to take them back to Negali (where I picked them up).
We returned, I paid them a “per diem” for taking time out of their day to come and fix our problem and then I finally headed back home. You see, out here, the electric company does not have many, if any, vehicles. So if you want something fixed, you typically have to go pick them up, take them home and pay them, even if it is their own equipment that is broken. Haha, well at least our power was out for less than 24 hours so we didn’t loose any food and it only took me about 200 km of driving! Now to figure out how to get the generator fixed out here in the middle of nowhere … how many trips will it take to get the parts and technician here for that? :)
