Brazzaville in Darkness

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There has been no electricity for two days now. Supply from Kinshasa to the whole of Brazzaville has been cut. It’s such a frequent occurrence that no one bothers to moan, everyday life continues in the darkness. Street vendors remain by the roadside, friends congregate at bars yet settle for lukewarm beer and taxis continue to shift the masses from one side of town to another. Complete neighbourhoods are plunged into darkness save for kerosene lamps and candle light. Private generators are increasingly widespread and start to buzz and expulse kerosene fumes as soon as the power is cut, yet generators remain the reserve of the middle class and do little to lift the blanket of darkness within les cités. More worrying is the water supply which tends to ebb away during power cuts. What to do where there is no water left to drink, cook or wash with? Those with the means purchase bottled water yet for this majority, electricity cuts invoke diligent management of water reserves and resignation to the fact that this is part of everyday life in the Congo.

29 July 2008
Some shocking statistics in today’s Le Soft International (RDC’s largest selling newspaper). The level of electrification in R-dCongo is around 6% while that of running water is 24%. On the whole in Africa, 2 out of 3 in habitants do not have running water or electricity.

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Photos

Me in Pirogue
Proof that I did have my hair done!