Bright Spark

Every so often something happens that makes you realise how close to the margins we live out here. I've just finished reading The Flame Trees of Thika and was struck by the close similarities between the writer’s experiences of living in Kenya in 1914 and mine today. She wrote about the same battles against nature that all farmers face and the cultural differences between Europeans and native Kenyans. The same challenges and differences are still close to the surface in 2013. I was struck overall by the slim margin between living in relative comfort and life on the edge.

I have always enjoyed the early evening in Kenya. It’s usually a bit cooler than the heat of the day and the sunset is never disappointing. It’s a nice time to take a shower and wash away the dust of the day. Our showers are, at the moment, supplied by our bore hole. Whenever the shower tanks run dry a couple of lads roll out the hose and man the pump. It’s a very smooth routine now. Except when the generator packs up!

One of my recurring nightmares is that the powerful generator we use to pump our bore-hole or the gear at the business end of the bore-hole pack up. Without the water which we pump up from ninety metres below the ground we would very quickly come to a halt. It would be impossible to keep the children’s home going, let alone meet the needs of nearly two hundred pupils, students and staff every day.

Half way through pumping water for the showers the generator ground to a halt and wouldn't start. The oil was checked, petrol topped up and the whole thing left for twenty minutes to give it a chance to stop sulking and get going again. Still no joy. I would not really describe myself as a mechanic. I have a basic understanding of how a generator works and can check the most obvious mechanical faults. The only one remaining in our case was the spark plug. After a quick brushing with a tooth brush dipped in petrol the spark plug was replaced in the engine block and …… thank goodness ….. the generator roared into life. Great relief all round.

Small victories like this are all the sweeter for knowing the consequences of a more serious equipment failure. As we worked through the problem check list my heart had begun to sink. It is not easy to find a reliable mechanic out here and the prospect of being without the generator for any amount of time did not bear thinking about. Our minor glitch did provide a useful opportunity to do a quick reminder about the importance of routine maintenance on the generator. When you reduce life to the basics it is, in lots of ways, much simpler. Being so close to major challenges certainly makes you appreciate the luxury of good old fashioned infrastructure.