DRRRRRUP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! “Thank you Jesus!”

EARLIER…

So there I was for the umpteenth time this summer, ready to get my priorities together and make the most of my time home. There was so much to do between writing, blogging, spending time with family, and catching up with friends and my favorite anime.

Then it happens. DRRRRRRRRH! – the lights go out. Again. “WELL MUDDAF—!”, voices shout near and far. Ladies and gentlemen load shedding has commenced once more across the island of New Providence. Not that it ever ceased in the first place. I guess it’s just my time again huh?

I sigh uproariously because I know this routine far too well. First, crack open my front room door which leads to the outside and lie helplessly on my bed. Maybe the load shedding gods will be generous this time around? Two hours? Three. Four. Five. At this point it truly is anyone’s guess.

Family members crawl out of their individual crevices and congregate on the front porch amidst, the boiling, still air of night. The wind to mosquito ratio is anything but favorable. And with none of my devices fully charged, I knew I was in for a distraction-free night in a fiery furnace.

On the bright side, if this heat manages to take me out for good, maybe I’ll get lucky and be brought back to life as a penguin. I bet they’d never have to worry about load shedding.

What feels like an eternity passes by, but it in actually it’s only been half an hour. Drops of sweat begin overlapping each other, racing throughout every pore of my body as the mosquitoes begin to tabernacle with one another. Their voices are most melodic as they harmonized hymns from the Holy Book.

“Yes, kum ba yah in the spirit!”, I chimed in as they continued to serenade me in my bedroom now officially Dante’s inferno. Another half hour of sweltering heat drags along and the little conversations among relatives begin to die down expectantly.

And obviously, it’s not because everyone has suddenly ran out of things to talk about. It’s because like me, they’re all fed up. Tired of this daily, inevitable inconvenience. And it’s not just my household. Thousands of Bahamians are being inconvenienced by load shedding each day. These long-lasting, frequent power outages have undoubtedly become the bane of our existence in this country.

I take this opportunity of indefinite quietude to mentally reflect on things:

Evidently, this country’s inability to properly supply power to the 400,000+ Bahamians that reside here is a cause for national concern. It should be something Government officials should be working around-the-clock to resolve. It should be paramount, made a number one priority.

Equally so, this should be something that finally ignites the collective consciousness of this nation to take action! This is an idyllic time for Bahamians, young, old, male, and female to place their petty differences aside and unite for a shot at meaningful change.

The severity of this situation demands social and political activism. I know, I know, such actions are practically foreign to the Bahamian people; but for once can we pull our sweat-drenched heads out of our sweat-drenched derrieres? Additionally, can we drop our inbred inclination toward docility?

PLEASE?

Just the other day, I read something on social media where a Bahamian said something along the lines of Yes, the power issue is bad, but we as a people should be thankful, and pray that God saves us from the heat. And I’m just on the other end of my phone screen mouth agape, staring incredulously at the comment.

This is where we’re at as a country. That comment was a shining example of the kind of passive, stagnant mentality many Bahamians clench so dearly to nowadays. Particularly those who fall under the category of “Old School Bahamians”.

Now, I’m not knocking anyone’s faith. But religious fanaticism isn’t going to resolve such a debacle. Well debacle is pretty much an understatement, this load shedding epidemic is deemed worthy of being called a clusterfuck. And no matter how you slice it, this situation isn’t something we can simply “pray away”.

[And for the record, prayer is considered to be a form of mediation. Ideally, it’s suppose to change us so that we can make the changes needed to improve our lives. It doesn’t work unless you yourself are putting in the work. But this is an entire conversation within itself that will be reserved for another time.]

The bottom line is, we need to invest in alternative sources of energy. Just look at some of the neighboring Caribbean countries for ideas. There are solar water heaters sprouting the rooftops of homes, businesses, and government buildings across Barbados. Street lights are adorned with solar panels along the strips of St Kitts. and Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

Countries that The Bahamas usually conducts business with such as China and the United States are leading the way hydroelectricity. They’re taking full advantage of their water landmarks and harvesting it’s flow to produce power.

I’m just saying for an archipelagic nation, that’s yinno SURROUNDED by water, I’m sure some sort of plant can be constructed to put all this salt water to use. It may not be in the same fashion or on the same scale as the hydroelectric damns seen in these first class nations, but I’m positive SOMETHING resourceful can be done.

Wind energy is also a possibility. Unlike this particular night, cool breezes tend to blow bountifully, especially along shoreline areas. Hell, get some windmills going. Something to cut down the people’s dependency on BPL alone. And these ideas are just some of the basic alternatives to this energy fiasco.

However, what pains me is there’s prone to be some piss-poor excuse from Government officials stating that there’s not enough money to invest in these life-enhancing alternatives. That The Bahamas doesn’t have the capacity to implement these ideas at this present time.

And if not now, when? A few months before the next General Election? By that time more than half the population would’ve already be reduced to little, black puddles from the heat because this can’t be the same sun our ancestors picked cotton in. CAN’T BE!

Anyway, we as a country are deserving of better. We deserve alternatives methods of producing energy and the right to do so ourselves. And that’s throughout the length and breath of this country. Whether it’s solar, wind, hydro, sorcery, magic, whatever it is, we deserve it. But then again, it all begins with us. How bad do really want it? And what are we willing to lose until we are pushed to the point of actually fighting for it?

DRRRRRUP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! “Thank you Jesus!”

The power’s back on. Sounds of neighbors rejoicing pull me out of my mental stupor. And although I’m ecstatic to shower and turn in for the night, a part of me feels defeated. Defeated because I know the same fate awaits me and several thousands other Bahamians in the coming morning. Hell, some thousands even right now.

The other part of me wonders though, do you think the mosquitoes will let me sing back-up vocals tomorrow night?

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