Mwangala starts her day around 04 in the morning. She used to wake up around 05 but had to adjust due to the load-shedding as power was mainly going off around 05. She has to prepare her children for school, snacks for break, their lunch and also ensure she beats the Lusaka Great East road traffic. Her adjustment from 05 to 04 was due to the change in the load shedding schedule which has now become unpredictable. It does not even make sense to wake up at 04 as she cannot tell what time power will go anymore. Luckily, she relies on her gas stove for the morning chores of heating up water and lunch box preparations. She laughs at the time when she has to iron her clothes, “witching hour” which is around 01 as power has a tendency of being restored past midnight. At first, it was difficult to get back to sleep after ironing her clothes but the brain adjusted and she could now easily get back to sleep after a quick ironing of clothes and uniforms. What puzzles her, is as she drives home, some parts of her neighbourhood always have power and after enquiries, her friends informed her that their load-shedding schedules are adhered to and whatever time power goes, it is restored at 18hrs or simply at 6pm promptly. Well, maybe they live on a grid connected to a shopping mall as she is well aware there is no hospital nearby, only ZESCO knows better. She now questions herself as to what is the use of paying for internet, or television, if there is no power to watch or utilise those things. She has also adjusted and stopped buying relish in advance as the prolonged long hours are making it easy for relish to go bad.
Like Mwangala’s story, so many people are going through the stress of load-shedding and trying to adjust to a life without electricity. The load shedding is unpredictable and not likely to end soon. It’s making families have unnecessary anxiety as fathers are going out more in the name of watching a game of soccer and mothers are unable to bake while students or school going children are struggling with reading and studying in the night. For people who have grown up in rural areas that do not have electricity, that is the life they know and are well accustomed to that life but to people in urban areas, who are accustomed to electricity, it’s a recipe for emotional, physical and mental stress to quickly adjust to a normal life without electricity as our sense of control is lost.
The ability for school going children or students to study has been impacted in a negative way. Homework is difficult because most parents come home in the evening and the dim lights do not make it easy for school work and the prolonged non-availability of electricity makes most gadgets to go off in the homes. And well, most parents and students depend on the internet to research so it’s kind of hard when the phone batteries completely go off.
The talk of alternative sources of power is easier for people with money. A normal cheap inverter is going for around K12, 500 and most single lithium batteries are between K6500 to K9000. Now the question is, how many people can afford to part away with that much to just invest in alternative power sources? Those amounts are what most people take home and for most, it is even less. If they take the entire salary to buying an inverter, batteries or solar panels, how will the family survive?
The persistent load shedding generates a feeling of frustration as our daily routines have been disrupted, water shortages, communication interruptions and sleep pattern disturbances of waking up at “witching hours” to iron clothes or finalise assignments by students and people spending more hours at their workplaces to finish off works which they cannot do in the comfort of their homes anymore. Traffic lights are constantly malfunctioning hence causing unnecessary traffic jams especially in the evenings when the traffic officers stop assisting.
Food safety has been compromised as some fridges are malfunctioning or not freezing enough due to the few hours of electricity and the level of crime has increased in some areas as thieves are taking advantage of the dark to attack and commit petty crimes.
The education sector has not been spared and it is a good thing that government is taking measures to make sure schools have alternative power but the quicker they do this, the better. My daughter was home from boarding school for the four days holiday and asking her on what happens during night prep when the school is load-shedded, she reliably informed that prep these days is non-existent in the evening as on most days, they have no power and that fellow students are stealing each other’s lamps which is a sad state of affair. This is hindering our learners’ learning processes especially for those in the examination classes and it is putting a strain on the school calendar. Her school has sent reminders for parents to buy lamps for pupils, but the question is how many parents have the money? For the teachers, most lesson plans are becoming difficult to complete on time due to not having power in the homes and even marking is now a challenge especially if the teacher is female and a mother, who is expected to quickly get back home and do motherly and wife chores. For college students, load-shedding is making it difficult for students to research as most rely on online libraries and resources and use electronic devices which need to be powered.
The unpredictability of load-shedding is what makes it more frustrating and causes challenges for daily planning activities. Electrical appliances are getting damaged especially that power is being restored at low voltage. Households having to throw away food, small businesses are now failing to meet rentals as sales are down especially businesses like saloons and barbershops. People running hammer mills are failing to work as power is mostly restored in the evening. I know someone who has been moving with a 90Kg bag of maize for three weeks in the back of their car waiting for a day when he can catch the chigayo (hammer mill) open. If you are in low income earning brackets, you are more affected by load-shedding as an inverter or alternative power source is a thing you see as you visit well to do friends and relatives. It seems the load-shedding hours and timing are affecting areas and households which are also financially stressed as it looks like there is a preferential treatment in the hours and areas of load shedding.
While the well to do are struggling to buy gas canisters which seem to be off the market, the lower-class society is battling with the high rise of charcoal and we expect a massive deforestation due to the load-shedding.
The thing that we need to do to cushion the impact of load-shedding is to buy foods in small quantities depending on what to eat that week. Putting of ice packs or water containers in the fridges so that the fridge remains cooler for a longer period is also useful. To government, we are grateful that you are looking into installing alternative power to learning institutions, but could you please fast track this move and look into measures whereby you engage companies that can provide civil servants with opportunities to pay slow and collect alternative sources of power such as an inverter or solar panels.
To those parents especially mothers, who are getting overwhelmed and stressed with load-shedding, hang in there and remember that if you allow it to stress you, children in the home pick up on the low moods so cheer up and remember that it will pass and we will adjust.
On the other hand, we anticipate our population to have a significant increase next year looking at the way load-shedding has hit the country hard this year as couples have more imyangalo (bonding time) when there is no television.
Seek help when in need, visit a counsellor near you!
About the author
Aka Monde, is a licensed Professional Counsellor who holds a Master of Science in Counselling from the University of Zambia. She believes in the adage “a problem shared, is a problem half solved.” Speak to your pastor, church elder, elderly family member or see a professional counsellor when in need.
Email: [email protected]
