Light-off!

The term “light-off” is one commonly used in Africa. This is because in many African countries “light-off” is a common occurrence! This is when the electricity is cut off nationally or in a particular area, for a period of time.

I experienced light-off on a number of occasions whilst in Ghana. I stayed there for a few weeks before and after getting married and throughout the duration of my stay, light-off seemed to become more and more frequent. In the middle of the day or night at any given moment, all of the electricity would go off. The fridge, TV, light, fan, air-con – everything! If only "light-off" meant just the lights going off eh! The worst thing was that sometimes a whole day would go by before it came back on! The family I was staying with had a generator, but it wasn’t always working.

The day before my wedding, I was on the way to a salon to get me nails done. In the time between me leaving the house and arriving at the salon, light-off occurred! When I got to the salon I was informed that due to light-off and a broken generator (and them not knowing how to do French manicure) they could not serve me. I ended up having to get my nails done true African style, by my mother, outside our house, where there was natural light, a little bit of a breeze and a fairly large stone that we were able to wash and use as a pumice!

Now, to many Africans light-off is part of everyday life (in some cases, literally everyday!) but, for me, a Londoner who is used to having electricity at the push of a button or the insertion of a plug, this would take some getting used to! Where I’m from, the only time there is light-off is when I switch off the light with my finger!

The most frustrating thing about light-off is that the power is not in your hands (pardon the pun).  Once light-off has struck, one must wait until the electricity people decide to switch it back on and grant us electrical current once again! There is no set time – one must hold tight and hope for the best!

One late Ghanaian night, I lay in pitch black darkness and humidity, anticipating light-on, while my husband (a born and bred African) lay next to me complaining about how he can’t stand the whole thing.  It was at that moment that I realised, there are some things in life that we don’t have total control over and although the situation may be uncomfortable or uneasy, we can either let it frustrate us and increase our blood pressure, or we can learn to deal with it as best we can, knowing that eventually the situation will pass.

I absolutely detest light-off and wish it would never, ever happen, but when it does, I try not to get angry or annoyed. I just lay there, fanning myself, knowing that sooner or later “light go come”

Having said all that, I have 2 points to make:

1.)    If I were staying in Africa indefinitely, I would have to, without a doubt invest in a generator!

2.)    Thank goodness I am now in Togo, where light-off is nowhere near as frequent as Ghana!

J