blessings

Finally I have a chance to blog about our adventures at the beginning of the month.  March 'blew in' with a bang for us... literally! 

On Saturday 2nd March we had a massive thunderstorm and lightning struck the College transformer.  I was sitting in the living room reading my Kindle and cringing at the lightning strikes which were VERY close. David was cuddling with Elijah in the bedroom, who was having trouble sleeping because of the storm. The rain was bucketing down -- until you've heard an African rainstorm on an African metal roof, you truly cannot understand how LOUD the rain is -- so loud you can't hold a conversation and you can't hear yourself think.  Honestly I've listened to the rain at times and wondered if it was physically possible for it to rain ANY harder.  Unbelievable.

But suddenly as I was sitting on the sofa I heard a very strange noise which was loud enough that I could actually hear it over the bucketing rain -- it was a pulsating, humming, buzzing noise.  It filled the whole house. I immediately jumped up, not knowing what to think but I think part of me wondered if maybe something on the roof was on fire.  I ran into the kitchen and saw out the window the entire sky was lit up with a glowing blue light.  So I quickly went into the bedroom to alert David, 'You need to come quickly, something's really wrong!'  I ran out the front door (which faces the direction the transformer is in) and saw one of the scariest things I've ever seen. The entire horizon was exploding!  It was a bright blue, glowing, pulsating light and you could hear the electricity just pulsating through the air.  It really was freaky.  I had never seen a transformer explode before, but David had, so he knew immediately what was happening.  Within 30 seconds the light faded and we were left in darkness.

The next morning the damage was accessed.  There are 3 lines from the transformer -- one is our line to our house and then to the Zulus; one is Phil & Marjanne's line which also serves the College buildings, and one is the Farm line.  Our internet uses all 3 lines to function, and so does the grinding mill at the Farm.  Of the 3 lines, 2 were badly damaged -- the Farm line and ours.  Phil and Marjanne's line was slightly damaged but still functioning after the lightning strike and quickly back to 100%.  Our line was the worst damaged - the fuse box at the transformer was actually charred black.  The power company was very quick to respond, since it was major damage on the main line through Eastern Province, and everyone except ourselves had their electricity back on well within 24 hours!  But our line had suffered other faults as a result of the lightning strike, and so the electrician spent the whole day on Monday fixing all the burnt-out fuses and everything else.  In the end, we were without power for 2 days.

MEANWHILE... on Saturday morning, the same day of the lightning strike, the water pump had mysteriously stopped working and we were suddenly without any water!  Phil was scrambling to troubleshoot the problem.  Thankfully the powerful storm that evening meant that we were able put put out all our buckets and basins to catch the rain water, which was then used to wash dishes (after being boiled) and flush the toilet, and wash our faces before bedtime.  But drinking water was severely rationed.  When the water ran out we had only THREE 2-liter bottles in our house for the four of us.  We managed to make it last until Monday afternoon.  All the staff were sharing with each other to get through -- the Zulus were sharing with the weekend students, and we were sharing with the Zulus, and so on.  On Monday David was able to go into town and buy a case of bottles of drinking water for each family on staff, and for the students.  This got us through until the problem was finally repaired on Tuesday afternoon! 

It turned out that the underground pipes which bring the water up from the borehole (powered by the pump) were starting to disintegrate.  There was no water pressure anymore because of some large holes in the pipes.  With the help of a man from the water department in town (not the water COMPANY -- they don't supply water, they just oversee dams and lakes and well/borehole projects and things), Phil was able to get the pipes pulled up and replaced with new ones.  It was a very tricky job and we were so thankful that it went without any complications.  On Tuesday afternoon, we at last had clean running water once again, after 3 1/2 days without!

This was a good reminder to us of how blessed we are to have a regular supply of electricity and clean drinking water.  True, it would be impossible to run an educational institution without these things... just having a water shortage of 3 days duration, with 7 staff families and 22 students dependent on the failing water supply, was ample proof of that... but they are nonetheless blessings.  And in this part of the world, these blessings set us apart from many of those around us who are not so fortunate.  It was a healthy and gentle reminder from the Lord not to take these things for granted.  We are serving Him and we are thankful for these good gifts that He gives us, and for caring for our every need!