Friday, September 24, 2004
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Two workers from the electric company Tanesco knocked on my door tonight. They were concerned about the extension cord that extends from my house to my neighbor.
My neighbor and I have an agreement. He uses the extension cord to tap power from my house and pays half my electric bill. His problem is that while the school provides the house for him, it does not pay the utility bill. But, as seems typical in Tz, the previous tenant built up a very substantial bill and then skipped out without paying. Now the electric company won’t turn his power back on until the bill is paid. But the school won’t pay it, and my neighbor can’t afford to and shouldn’t have to anyway.
It was one of those times that I am glad I don’t speak Kiswahili and the Tanesco guys couldn’t speak English. But when one of them began climbing the electric pole with pliers in-hand, I started yelling and jumping up and down. My neighbor came over and things calmed down.
I’m told that borrowing power like this is considered serious – almost as serious as totally stealing power. So I dropped in on my neighbor later to see how things had been resolved. I should have known. When my neighbor explained the situation to the guys and stressed that all the power goes through my meter and the bill gets paid every month, the guys were very understanding and felt that they might be able to help. This “help” cost my neighbor 10,000 shilingi, and sure enough the problem disappeared. The extension cord is still attached.
That amount is pretty substantial. The monthly salary for a secondary school teacher is between 70,000 and 90,000 per month.
But my other neighbor taps the power line directly – his power doesn’t even go through a meter. They did cut off his power. But I see that it is back on again also, so clearly the Tanesco guys found reason to be exceptionally understanding for him too. Turns out that a bunch of other teachers here also tap the power line directly, including the Asst. Headmaster.
The Tanesco guys went home with bulging pockets tonight, and the lights are still burning in the homes of Nsumba Secondary.
Two workers from the electric company Tanesco knocked on my door tonight. They were concerned about the extension cord that extends from my house to my neighbor.
My neighbor and I have an agreement. He uses the extension cord to tap power from my house and pays half my electric bill. His problem is that while the school provides the house for him, it does not pay the utility bill. But, as seems typical in Tz, the previous tenant built up a very substantial bill and then skipped out without paying. Now the electric company won’t turn his power back on until the bill is paid. But the school won’t pay it, and my neighbor can’t afford to and shouldn’t have to anyway.
It was one of those times that I am glad I don’t speak Kiswahili and the Tanesco guys couldn’t speak English. But when one of them began climbing the electric pole with pliers in-hand, I started yelling and jumping up and down. My neighbor came over and things calmed down.
I’m told that borrowing power like this is considered serious – almost as serious as totally stealing power. So I dropped in on my neighbor later to see how things had been resolved. I should have known. When my neighbor explained the situation to the guys and stressed that all the power goes through my meter and the bill gets paid every month, the guys were very understanding and felt that they might be able to help. This “help” cost my neighbor 10,000 shilingi, and sure enough the problem disappeared. The extension cord is still attached.
That amount is pretty substantial. The monthly salary for a secondary school teacher is between 70,000 and 90,000 per month.
But my other neighbor taps the power line directly – his power doesn’t even go through a meter. They did cut off his power. But I see that it is back on again also, so clearly the Tanesco guys found reason to be exceptionally understanding for him too. Turns out that a bunch of other teachers here also tap the power line directly, including the Asst. Headmaster.
The Tanesco guys went home with bulging pockets tonight, and the lights are still burning in the homes of Nsumba Secondary.
