Neverending Power Interruptions in Timor-Leste

Tweet I thought it was bad when the power was off four hours a day here in Dili. Suddenly, the power is out about eight hours per day now -- and it continues to get worse and worse. The generator works, but it's simply not strong enough to power everything in our office -- so some people are forced to sit idle -- everyone does without air conditioning. The heat and humidity reminds me of a Washington DC summer day -- on steroids. It's really that bad.

The power interruptions and power surges are also wreaking havoc on equipment. PC's burn out, my laptop adapter cable fried and the water pump went dead. Stabilizers are connected to everything, but they, too, are succumbing to the constant up and down of the electricity.

So today, the water was off -- along with the electricity.

The one thing that does keep working is our internet. One of my colleagues noted that it was a bit odd that through all the power cuts and so forth -- our internet keeps chuggin' along.  It's mainly because we have a small generator that is dedicated to keeping the server and the VSAT hardware running.

Some things, you simply can't do without.