cuts

I can sometimes forget that we live in a developing country, but yesterday we were reminded that there are so many things we take for granted. Yesterday there was no diesel in Blantyre, we had an almost empty tank because last week we had cash flow problems so I hadn’t filled up, then the water was off for a few hours. Temporary cuts are OK but the worry is that the water can go off for days at a time and you just never know which it will be. The lack of diesel is apparently due to the difficulty with changing money and buying goods from outside the country. I did find some fuel yesterday, I got half a tank after a long wait in a very noisy petrol station and I got another half tank at a station that had just had a delivery. I had not appreciated that most of the mini bus drivers buy fuel a gallon at a time in jerry cans because each driver puts his own fuel in the vehicle. The stations were busy with these drivers trying to fill their cans, there were less people trying to fill their cars. Anyway the water is back on and our bath filled up in case there are more cuts.