Welcome to "Through a Glass Darkly" - my blog about my service trip to Malawi, Africa.

I left Canada on December 30th for Blantyre, Malawi, AFRICA. I worked with Friends of Malawi Fellowship (FOMF), the organization headed by my aunt Phyllis Labrentz. I taught English language and literature, helping secondary high school students learn to read and write English well enough to pass the government exams.
During that time I was also kept busy teaching guitar, singing, and assisting my aunt.
I left Malawi on July 19th and returned to Canada on July 20th.

Monday, January 16, 2012

MINDING OUR Ps AND Qs

Jan. 12th 

Ps = Petrol                        Qs = Queues: as in, lineups


Gasoline is in chronic short supply here. Yesterday, Arnold queued up for petrol from 1 p.m. until almost 9 p.m. The expected tanker truck showed up--at the other side of the city. Word was that another truck would be there in the morning. Arnold was back at the station at 5:00 a.m. only to find the the truck had been there at 3 a.m. and was emptied in just one hour.

Picture a city at least double the population of Quesnel--with just ONE gas station--everyone waiting in their cars for hours. Waiting, tempers getting shorter by the hour. Finally a tanker truck arrives. It is empty after just one hour, while people are still getting into line.

This is what the situation has been in Blantyre this week.

Friday we were just finishing up our grocery shopping when saw a tanker go by. Arnold's cell phone rang: a friend said the truck had gasoline at a certain station and we should hurry over. We pulled onto that street and...CRAZY!! Cars, trucks, minibuses (13-passenger vans) everywhere, all jammed together with barely 15 cm between them most places. We waited 3 hours. Some drivers had started backing into the pumps, jumping the queue. The station manager decided to shut the place down as things were getting dangerous. We drove home without getting any fuel.











Believe me, it was THAT good!


Jan. 16th update: still haven't gotten any fuel. Word is that the gas station near us will have a delivery in the morning.


Jan. 17th--Arnold paid  for 10L from a contact. Still waiting for the truck...


Jan. 18th--and we're still waiting...


Jan. 22nd--
Got petrol today! We were heading into Blantyre to go out for lunch after the service when we came upon a gas station with a short queue. Arnold pulled a quick U-turn, got into line, and 15 minutes later we had 4 gallons in our tank. Thanks for praying!

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous16 January 2012 at 14:40

    Incredible! Just thinking about how we get annoyed waiting on one paying inside or taking extra time to wash windows etc. We're can get short tempered then I couldn't image putting us in that situation. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. fran caudron17 January 2012 at 21:08

    Why is the gas in such short supply? Has it always been this way?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Inez18 January 2012 at 11:01

    No, it's a recent development. It has to do with the difficulty the economy is in right now. The UK froze their aid this summer so there is not enough foreign currency coming into the country. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and relies heavily on foreign aid.

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