My Dismal Living Conditions

I am living in a two-bedroom flat on the grounds of the state hospital. For the first time in my life, I am living entirely alone. I’m not sharing space with a roommate, apartment-mate, or family member. It is just me. In general, I quite like this. But there are times when this reality is not entirely to my liking. Per example, when I first moved in, I realized that I would have to figure out how to decorate the place on my own. Interior design has never been one of my strong points. It took me awhile, but I have finally solved most of the pressing concerns – the majority of the holes in the walls have been covered and the lack of nightstands was solved with cardboard box towers. So I’m fairly satisfied with my efforts to make the place ‘homey.’

I am blessed with electricity and running water. I would have hot water but unfortunately, the heater is broken and none of the maintenance workers seems able to identify the source of the problem. But aside from my lack of hot water, a laundry machine and a microwave, I have just about every other amenity that I’d grown accustomed to having back home. So I am not suffering out here and am certainly not ‘roughing it.’

The ‘toughest’ part of the living conditions for me in Opuwo is the water situation. Opuwo is one of the very few places in Namibia that does not have safe drinking water; we have to boil our water. I have yet to get a satisfying answer regarding the health risks of the water though. I doubt it has ever been tested so most likely, nobody really knows. Some people say that the calcium deposits are the problem but I don’t think the little white specks are something to be too concerned about. Others say that there’s something wrong with the pipes. And a few say that given the poor sanitation in town, there’s a risk that the water is contaminated with sewage. Regardless, I boil my water. Fortunately, I have not been seriously ill because of the water…yet.

In the rainy season (which is now), the electricity often cuts out in town. However, the hospital has a generator so I typically do not have to endure an electric-free life for long. Unfortunately, the generator has been malfunctioning lately (considering the fact that we often have babies in incubators and other medical equipment run from electricity, this is a serious problem) so we will be without electricity for hours once in awhile. I don’t much mind this when I’m at home (unless its dinner time and I want to cook…) but since the vast majority of my work requires the use of a computer, it is rather inconvenient when it takes place during the day.

Our phone lines also like to go down during rainy season. So I am occasionally even more cut-off from the outside world. Opuwo is pretty isolated….most of the country does not suffer from such issues. But I kind of like it, makes life a bit more exciting and unpredictable, right? At least that’s what I’m telling myself in my frustration at needing to call someone and not being able to…