Greetings!
I woke up on Sunday around 3:50 a.m. because I had slept very early on Saturday night. I was lying in bed and decided to make a money transfer that I couldn’t complete earlier due to poor network on Saturday night. When I reached the final stage, my bank prompted me to complete a face verification. I’m not sure what triggered the request, but I didn’t think twice about it, as it's actually a good way to safeguard my account from scammers. However, there wasn’t enough light in my room for the selfie, so I decided to go outside and use the bright streetlight.
As I got outside, a strange kind of pain filled my heart. Why? There was electricity in the neighboring compounds—not far from mine—but none in my house. If you're reading this from a developed country, this may not resonate as much, but for those who know this experience, you can understand the deep frustration it brings.
Do you know how much we spend on fuel to power electricity?
The problem started yesterday (Saturday). I had a lot of work to clear, as I didn’t want to fall behind and get into trouble with my clients. So, I bought some fuel to power my generator—very costly fuel. With the way fuel prices have skyrocketed, I feel like I'm committing a crime whenever I buy it. The amount I used to spend on 3 litres of fuel at the start of this year is now what I spend on just 1 litre. This is painful!
After buying the fuel, I powered up my generator and was ironing my clothes around 4:00 p.m. when one of my neighbors rushed in, asking me to switch to public electricity (NEPA) because he thought it had been restored. My heart leapt with joy at the prospect of saving some of the fuel I hadn't yet used. But when I switched over, there was no light, and my earlier joy turned to disappointment.
“There’s light in those compounds,” he pointed, indicating some nearby houses. Curious, I walked outside to check, and sure enough, their bulbs were shining brightly. We just had to accept our fate, assuming that our area might have a fault or perhaps the transformer serving us had developed an issue. When this happens, it’s usually a long-term problem.
So, waking up this morning to see that the other areas still had electricity while we didn’t was incredibly frustrating. Only God knows when it will be fixed. This means I’ll have to continue buying that ridiculously expensive fuel to get by. At this point, only God can save me.
On a deeper note, I’ve started making plans to invest in a solar power system, and I’ll be writing a full article on that soon. I need a miracle to see the success because it's damn costly too. Sometimes I wish I have a money tree in my backyard to go and pluck anytime I have big monetary project.
Thanks for reading.
Photos used are mine
