Life was pretty normal in Zambia until the end of June. The previous rainy season was short and had not produced enough run off to fill Lake Kariba. Kariba is the world's biggest man-made reservoir by volume that straddles the Zambian and Zimbabwean border and supplies about 1,830 megawatts of power to the two nations when running at full capacity. The dam was 40 persent full on July 19, less than half what it was a year ago, according to official data. Fed by the Zambezi river, the reservoir is 226 kilometers (140 miles) long and as wide as 40 kilometers.
The low volumn of water has caused the local utility company to do what they call "Load Shedding". Power production is reduced by restricting the flow of water from the reservoir through the hydro-electric plant. This means that customers do not have power supplied to them for several hours each day. In our case we are without power (which also means no water) for about 8 hours every day. It is either out between around 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or from around 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. We were spoiled with electricity everyday all day until this happened. We struggled along for a few weeks and then decided that we had better start looking for some alternatives. It appears that the chances of changes in the situation will not get better until the end of the year when the rain comes again.
So we researched generators. You have to feed them constantly so we didn't need that added burden and expense. We wondered what an UPS (un-interupted power supply) would do and we located some that worked off the utility power source and some that worked off of solar.
In the mean time we found some little solar powered lights. One side is a solar panel and the other side is an LED light. They work very well for about 4 hours on a full charge.
That was helpful when the power was out after dark but it still didn't provide power for the internet and computer operations that we needed during the day light hours. The decision was made to purchase an electric charged UPS system with battery back-up.
We can now have the internet on demand when there is no power as the inverter turns the DC power stored in the battery to AC power. It also allows us to run a fan, lights and computer chargers. Talk about being spoiled again. Except there still is no water when the power is off as the pump and similar items with over 1000 watt needs will not work. Water continues to be stored in empty 2 liter milk bottles so we can have cold water to wash or clean with.
The other change came more suddenly this week. We received a call from the Mission President on Wednesday to talk about our assingment to the Matero Ward, where we have been attending since arriving in Zambia. In his monthly Interview with the Stake President they discuss missionary assignments to the Stake. They counselled about some development of the Priesthood in the stake and concluded to change our assignment from the Matero Ward to the Lusaka Ward. We are not sure what exactly we will be doing but the new couple (Elder and Sister Groesbeck) who arrived a week ago will fill in at the Matero Ward. They will be great. We will miss our friends in Matero.
This is Bishop Chifunda with his counselors and Ward Clerk.
From left to right: Brother Sakala, Ward Clerk; Brother Bwalya, 1st Counselor (he has been ill); Bishop Chifunda; Brother Kalonga, 2nd Counselor; Sister and Elder Bodily
