Fuel Crisis

I'm in town to be around for Thanksgiving which will be followed immediately by a very short Camp SKY (changed to 6 days from 13 days) and things around Lilongwe are a shade different than they usually are. In the year and change I have stayed in this Lilongwe where my ramblings center mainly around the nest we volunteers make at the transit house, my stay has been characterised by a lot of sensual impressions: the stink of trash in the ditches on the way from the residential neighborhood to the more commercial center of town where we go for work and eats; the cool shade of flame and jacaranda trees peppered with bright red and purple blossoms, the rocky uneven feel of the partially-sidewalked ground beneath my feet as I run errands; the sound of the call to prayer floating over the city to reach me from the Old Town Mosque at 4am; the smoky haze of traffic fumes and calls of minibus conductors zooming by on the city streets.

Lately though, streets have been deserted and quiet, the tree-lined walks near our house serene and almost like the richer residential neighborhoods I knew in Maryland. It's really eerie, the effects of this petrol crisis. For a city whose development and chaotic hubbub have seemed almost synonymous to each other, the listless corners by the filling station littered with passenger vehicles, non-governmental organization SUVs, battered minibuses, and even tractor trailers are a sign of sure trouble. Malawians and aid worker expats alike sit side by side on the grass facing the locked filling station with empty jerry cans beside them, just waiting to receive what they need. The face of a nation turns its silent eye to their leaders and, like the way of life in the village, watches the world go by. Malawi just accepts this bad hand it's been dealt. I would so love to see rioting, civil protest, or any intelligent expression of of the people that might spur investigations into this sudden halt. No one I know has any concrete ideas as to why the oil products have stopped coming, much less what the source of Malawi's fuel is -- middle east through Zanzibar? Nigeria? S. Africa? Across the Tanzanian border int he North maybe? The DRC? Mozambique?

It's a scary feeling of helplessness. I will have to continue what I'm doing - trying to bring the Western style of aid - when maybe those support apparatuses are being unmasked to reveal a fragile scaffolding that might not support us - a house of cards. The US is definitely also weak in the area of energy independence but I can't see the same problems here happenning in 'Merica even if we do find cars parked @ Exxon or BP. But here, my local cell tower is paraffin generator-powered so once the minibuses stop rnning, maybe I won't be able to call out or receive that call from my folks on Sunday. Surgeries are being postponed in hospitals, and soon maybe the local barber won't have electricity and my grocery guy won't be able to sell me a cold coke for $0.45. Back to the pre-AID ages perhaps - time to experience "real" Africa. Or to see how strong development really is.