This is what you call a "fuel line" in Malawi. Petrol and Diesel are a scarce commodity. There is never any fuel in the pumps without a fuel line nearby. If you see a line and people aren't in their cars that means they are just waiting for the fuel truck to arrive (usually it's merely a rumor that it's coming and sometime you sit for hours to find out no fuel truck is coming). If you see a fuel line that's moving then you determine if it's a short line worth waiting in. You can tell by the types of vehicles in line whether the fuel at the pumps is diesel or petrol. By "short line" I mean 30-60 minutes. Yes, imagine the lines in MS after Katrina and that's only a glimpse of what it's like here everyday.
We are not in this fuel line. Yet we have to drive around them all the time. Many times the lines block the road and you have to drive on the other side. But hey, T.I.A. (this is Africa)!
People carry everything on their heads here. It's amazing. I especially love the huge baskets full of food on the heads of tiny women.
This is Chipiku. This is one of our main grocery stores. We actually ran by here just today to pick up some Coke. See, here you don't buy Coke in 2 liter bottles or cans. You buy them by the crate in bottles. You pay an k800 deposit to take a crate. You then pay for the coke inside the bottles that you purchase. When your crate is empty you bring the crate and empty bottles back, get a deposit slip/receipt for the crate, and go get another crate of Coke. After you pay the initial k800 (approx. $5) you don't have to pay it again. Thereafter you only have to pay for the drink itself. The choices of drinks are limited to Coke, Coke light (think Coke zero...kinda), and Fanta. Nothing else!
CJ and SM waiting with Daddy in the car while Mommy and AJ shop at Chipiku.
This is how fuel is transported in Malawi.
Another way fuel is transported in Malawi.
On the way to church this past Sunday morning we saw a short fuel line at the gas station right by the church. We turned around and jumped in line. We were in line about 25 minutes. Not bad at all. And we still made it for the sermon (but we missed the praise and worship part....pooh!). But hey, when there's fuel you get it! By the time church was out the fuel was gone!
If you look closely there are tiny cars on the road way back in the back of the picture (not the white truck...). Those are cars waiting in the fuel line that we are receiving fuel from. They are in a much longer line than we were in and were probably waiting over an hour...and honestly, there was only one pump with fuel so the fuel probably ran out before they received any.
Jeremy paying the man for the fuel. They pump the fuel for you here. Sometimes they ration the fuel and only allow you to get a certain amount. We needed less than half a tank so Jeremy got out to make sure we were filled all the way to the brim! That should last us a little while, hopefully. We conserve fuel in many ways. We only drive to and from campus. We go to the store at one time and get enough for a week. We don't sit in the car with the car running, it gets turned off. If we have to run one errand we run a lot so we don't have to get back out. BTW, the gas cost us k7800 to fill up which is about $6/gallon. Our entire tank would cost about $84 and we just have a car. T.I.A!
Jill
3 comments:
Well it seems alot like a permanent after Katrina life. Be careful and may God keep you all safe. Thanks for the updates. Very interesting.
Sure makes you thankful for what we have in our country. We are all guilty of taking too much for granted. God Bless you in your ministry.
This is so interesting... And I especially enjoyed seeing your kids waiting in the car.(Just shows how quickly kids adapt.) May God bless your ministry! Love, Karen.
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