Load shedding.....16 hours a day without electricity

If you read the early posts on this blog, you may have read about 14 hour per day power outages in Nepal. When we read about power outages before heading to Nepal, it was hard to comprehend. I felt sure the situation would be resolved before our arrival.

Well, we're here, and the power is actually off 16 hours every day in Kathmandu and almost that many hours outside the city. In Nepal, this is known as load shedding. The way it works is the power is off 8 hours, on 4 hours, then off 8 hours, etc.

It's amazing how Nepalis cope with this. Some have inverters and generators and do quite well carrying on. Others have rechargeable lights or solar powered lights and spend some amount of time in the dark. I was speaking to someone about how hard it is to get work done in his office during the regular work day. He said they charge their laptops and use them when the power's off. And, some work just doesn't get completed on schedule.

During one Rotary meeting, the room went dark. The meeting went on without any fuss, and the lights came on--I think because the generator kicked into action. In another Rotary meeting, the electricity to run our power point presentation came from a long extension cord that was connected to a neighbor's generator.

Nepalis are easy going people who don't expect everything in their lives to be easy. They're also really resourceful and have adapted well to this challenging situation.

Barbara