I feel blessed because I have electricity available to me all day long, whenever I need it.
I have been reflecting back on Spring 2006 when I lived in Uganda, and as I do I feel exponentially more blessed.
First, did you know that?
- Electricity travels at the speed of light - more than 186,000 miles per second!
- A spark of static electricity can measure up to three thousand (3,000) volts.
- A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts – and it lasts less than one second!
- Electricity always tries to find the easiest path to the ground.
- Electricity can be made from wind, water, the sun and even animal manure.
- Burning coal is the most common way electricity is made in the United States.
- One power plant can produce enough electricity for 180,000 homes.
- The first power plant – owned by Thomas Edison – opened in New York City in 1882.
- Thomas Edison didn’t invent the first light bulb – but he did invent one that stayed lit for more than a few seconds.
- Thomas Edison invented more than 2,000 new products, including almost everything needed for us to use electricity in our homes: switches, fuses, sockets and meters.
- Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity – but he did prove that lightning is a form of electrical energy.
Thank you http://www.alliantenergykids.com/EnergyBasics/AllAboutElectricity/000418 for you great energy facts described at a kid's level! The actual electricity sites used words a little too complicated for me...
Electricity is AWESOME! And in my opinion, quite the miracle. Now, what does this have to do with Uganda?
First, a geography lesson:
For those who don't know where Uganda is (especially the city Mukono where I lived), I have created these nice little maps to demonstrate:
 | ||
Map of Africa with Uganda circled in blue.
|
Second, some background:
When I entered kindergarten my mother decided to go back to school. She first earned her Bachelor's Degree from Brigham Young University (BYU) and then her Master's Degree from BYU as well. Following this degree she decided that she should also earn her Doctorate Degree (I know, she is an AMAZING woman :) ). She searched out the universities which carried the degree she wanted and found George Mason University in northern Virginia. In 2006 it was time for her to complete her dissertation study. Her Ph.D. was in international literacy, so we moved to Uganda for her to implement a new literacy program.
We went from:
 |
| Our beautiful home in Virginia... |
 |
| ...to our bright turquoise, all concrete and brick, Ugandan home. |
 |
| Our huge dining room and kitchen... |
 |
| ...to this. |
Okay, so I don't want you to think I am complaining here, because I am most certainly not. Although, I did complain a lot when I lived there. Living in Uganda was hard and certainly made me appreciate all that I have now. My experience in Uganda changed my life and looking back, I loved it and am so grateful for it. The area is absolutely beautiful and the people there are so loving.
Finally, why I feel blessed to have electricity:
Due to various political and economic issues in Uganda, we were not afforded the privilege of electricity 24/7 like I currently enjoy in the United States. To best show how I felt while I was there (and why I feel so blessed now), here are some excerpts from my journal:
2.10.2006
"... we ate a re-heated dinner since you can never trust the electricity out here, so Mom cooked the meal this morning. The electricity went out at 6:09 PM and came back on at about 10:50 PM. Yesterday it was off almost all the whole entire day, and a few days ago it was off for fourteen hours!"
2.11.2006
"... the electricity just went out..."
2.12.2006
"Yesterday was crazy. Our water was off until this morning, our electricity was off for most of the day and night, and is off right now. This morning we had a cockroach in our house... Sorry that I'm just rambling on, but when the electricity is out, what else is there to do? The electricity being out sure ruins everyone's plans."
2.13.2006
"The electricity was off all day until late this afternoon. So basically I was stuck at home a lot of the day."
2.14.2006
"...the internet wasn't working good... plus the electricity was off part of the time!... And now the power is out [again] and I need to go to bed before it gets dark."
Ah yes, a week in the life of Uganda electricity :)
Again, I am so grateful that I live in a country, city and apartment where I have electricity whenever I need it. Electricity is such a blessing!
Isn't it funny that when we are immersed in a codition of living, that it becomes common and normal. People think that Africa is exotic, but after I told a frind about my experiences, he said, "Oh, that is just like camping out." Ah, yes, and I was so caught up in "camping out" that I didn't even notice until my bathroom smelled like a latrine because we hadn't had water for a few days. I carefully planned my life around electricity--never make bread after 3 PM, have dinner finished by 5:30 PM, have all 4 batteries for my computer charged each day and my plug-in-the-wall flashlight, and make sure there was never anything that had to stay frozen in our tiny refrigerator and that meat was in the freezer so it usually survived the outages each night. Nothing survived the extra outages that lasted more than 12 hours a day except us. With a well planned life the outages seemed minimally invasive except for cold sponge baths; then I was not a happer camper.
ReplyDelete