Big Red Parked... until...
The new red Surf is parked now... we have less than 3 liters of fuel and the city is dry! There isn't any diesel within about 100 miles or so!
I found this out conveniently when I ran into a friend while I was picking up a big can of milk powder. I needed to get John from school with 3 of his friends and drop them at home. The trip from home to school is 11 km... divide by 1.6 if you want miles. I make the trip 1 or 2 times a day, but we have organized a carpool starting this week. Oops... I'm not going to be able to do my part again! 2 of the 5 families involved have gasoline cars (*whew*). Unfortunately, the cars aren't big enough to take all 9 kids!
What happened is that some ships are stuck in port at Beira and can't unload the goods including diesel fuel. So there is suddenly a great scramble for any available fuel hidden away for an emergency. Unfortunately, we didn't have an emergency supply. We put out the word in our network of friends, and when they find some, they'll let us know. Nice to have friends.
Another twist in the month-end financial crunch is that when we took 20,000 kwacha from a machine in Malawi on our Mozambique account, the bank deducted 20,000 meticais. That means that though we took out the equivalent of about $150, they charged us about $750! The bank is correcting the error, but it will take a week. So, this week, we are trying NOT to spend money. Luckily, we have been able to pay bills and salaries!
Keep praying... never a dull moment around here!
I found this out conveniently when I ran into a friend while I was picking up a big can of milk powder. I needed to get John from school with 3 of his friends and drop them at home. The trip from home to school is 11 km... divide by 1.6 if you want miles. I make the trip 1 or 2 times a day, but we have organized a carpool starting this week. Oops... I'm not going to be able to do my part again! 2 of the 5 families involved have gasoline cars (*whew*). Unfortunately, the cars aren't big enough to take all 9 kids!
What happened is that some ships are stuck in port at Beira and can't unload the goods including diesel fuel. So there is suddenly a great scramble for any available fuel hidden away for an emergency. Unfortunately, we didn't have an emergency supply. We put out the word in our network of friends, and when they find some, they'll let us know. Nice to have friends.
Another twist in the month-end financial crunch is that when we took 20,000 kwacha from a machine in Malawi on our Mozambique account, the bank deducted 20,000 meticais. That means that though we took out the equivalent of about $150, they charged us about $750! The bank is correcting the error, but it will take a week. So, this week, we are trying NOT to spend money. Luckily, we have been able to pay bills and salaries!
Keep praying... never a dull moment around here!
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