LauraHoskins

Things are getting a little tedious on the lack of electricity front. I'm bored at home and have found myself trying to keep out the house as much as possible! One might (/will) argue that I'm tring to get out of the challenge, however I see it as tring to make the best of a bad situation, which in fairness is what we used to do in Peru whenever we had to sit through one of the many power cuts. Unfortunately these power cuts used to happen more frequently in the rainy seasons so leaving the building let alone the site of the home was pretty much impossible.

I remember dashing across the large rain-sodden patio to go to the bathroom and sitting in fear as the rain drops crashed against the corregated metal roof and lightening falling out the sky in the field next to me. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm terrified of thunder and lightening (pathetic, I know!) but having to be in the dark in a small breeze block-tin hut, surrounded by water and in the dark watching lightening flash; took "being terrified" to a whole new level!

 This is said toilet block (on a sunny day)!

On one occasion, we arrived home at around midnight after a family party in the city to find that the nearest town (Oropesa) was in total darkness and that although we lived a couple of kilometres from the town, we found that our electricity AND water had been cut off too. Not amusing when you've over done it on the Inka Kola and are dying to use the facilities! However, these events made my adventure in Peru all the more interesting. To most of the people living in Oropesa and all over Peru, frequent power cuts and lack of water was reality. A good friend of mine, Sonia, had running water in her house for 2 hours a day (if she was lucky) and so when we heard the water come on (even at 4am) it was everybody's job to get up and fill as many large buckets as possible with water (which of course, is dirty and had to be boiled before being used, drunk, etc etc).

So I think that tonight I'm going to quit complaining and get on with it...after all, if my friends in Peru can do it for a life time, why can't I manage a week?

Sitting in the dark allows oneself a load of thinking time, so much time in fact that I ended up falling asleep fully clothed only to be woken up at 3am when the fire alarm decided to go off (nothing to do with my candles this time, it has a mind of its own!)!

I'm starting to get used to not using electricity at home, at night it's extremely irritating, the girls I live with get to enjoy their laptops whilst watching TV with the lights on whilst I drag myself upstairs to avoid any accidental usage! I'm rarely at home during the day but today I'm here for a couple of hours having been to have my blood sucked at the hospital, where lucky for me I get free health care. Millions of people around the world are denied access to free health care, if they weren't denied it then they would have access to doctors and medicines that could save lives. Agree? Then click here and take action!

Sitting in the hospital reminded me of the fact that in Peru the amount of money you have determines the types of treatment you have access to. My local doctor's surgery in Peru wasn't exactly what I would call hygenic or "well-run". With consultation room doors left open for the world and his wife to see what's going on, the locals had a field day every time I turned up to see the quack: a white person, here?! QUICK let's come into her appointment with her! Not exactly what you'd expect at home! Friends of mine who could not afford health insurance were often left with no choice but to care for relatives at home or queue up for hours at the hospital only to be told to go away because they didn't have the right health plan to be there. Myself on the other hand, every time I was in hospital I was lucky enough to be able to use the travelers' clinic, a new, modern building with massive TVs in each room (which were en suite). Even now it makes me angry to think that I went to that hospital instead of a normal one, just because I'm a gringa why does that give me the right to have better health care and still not pay for it when millions of Peruvians can't afford to even take time off work to see the doctor, let alone pay the money to see them.

OK so this blog hasn't been about me not using electricity, that kind of speaks for itself: I havent been using much electricity; however these last couple of days I've been given a chance to think about things and to question myself, others and the way in which our world works. Hmmmm......

Brilliant, there was me thinking that I would get home and that I could whip the curtains open in my bedroom to let the last of the evening light illuminate my room, oh how wrong I was! The clocks have gone back and therefore it was now dark before I'd even left the office! Luckily I'd come prepared (actually I'd bought a bag of tea light candles last week to add ambience to my room before deciding on my challenge, high 5!)............

50 candles enough for one week?

  Quickly flicking on the lights so as not to waste too many minutes of precious spark time, I ran down stairs to borrow my house mate Iria's lighter and lit 5 of my scented candles which I had now spread artistically round my room. Lovely. Not for long. I switched off the lights, closed the door and just as I thought I could get used to sitting in the calm light of my candles for a week, the fire alarms started ringing!

With my house mate's shouting "what's going on" and me yelling "oh [explitive] I'm sorry", my poverty challenge was not off to the most smoothest of starts. But, hey, it wasn't supposed to be easy!

So now, I've been sitting in almost pitch black, waiting for blog time/bed time with only the occasional trip down stairs; once to pay my rent (which my land lord said he should let me off because of my challenge...thanks Javier :) ..he didn't...) and a couple of times to forrage for food/water/a sneak peek at the television!

Bring on day two...!

This is a picture of my room for those of you who are interested in knowing where I'm spending most of my time during my challenge...(lights not included)!

So here we are, the night before the Poverty Challenge is going to start. I've been sporting my lovely badge and had a few people (including my MP) already ask about it. Upon telling people that I'm going to be living on one hour of electricity per day (outside of work) the usual response I get is "yeah, right" or "are you really, that's going to be a nightmare". A "nightmare" it probably will be, however, millions of people live without electricity throughout the world, and having lived in a country where regular powercuts and lack of electricity are common, I thought that I would show solidarity with my friends. I've got a bag of tea-light candles ready to roll in my bedroom and my poverty badge is positively glistening! As the saying goes: "Lights [or candles]...camera [to take some lovely snaps]....[let's take]action!"

My challenge is to live with one hour of electricity a day (outside of work).

I value using electricity and it will allow me to appreciate that many people around the world who live in poverty have to deal without this amenity every day of their lives.

I live in Manchester and will ask my MP Gerald Kaufman what he thinks .... what do you think?