Power tripping

So the issue of access to power is always looming for those of us working with my organization in Kapoeta. Last night, after a long dusty drive from Loki, I went into my office to check emails and respond to some work stuff. I really just wanted to shower and relax, but I had things to do and was ready to just plow through an hour or so of work and then quit for the day. Not a good 15 minutes after signing on the power died and took along my good intentions.

Power comes in two forms here: solar or generator. Our generator died last year before I even joined the org. We FINALLY received a new one yesterday after more than 8 months of internal hoopla and within an hour it was already smoking according to reports. The electrician lives in Loki, but was on assignment elsewhere so I couldn't bring him back with me yesterday. So really only Lord knows when he will actually be able to reach Kapoeta and let us know if our brand new generator is able to supply us power.

For the last few months, we've been using solar panels to get power and while that works really well on the hottest, brightest days....it isn't so helpful when clouds are looming like today. So even as I write this, there isn't power at my compound to work. Hence I'm at the neighbors sucking off their generator supply...