So many times I have tried to have a conversation with someone in The Gambia and suddenly found that I have been talking to myself for a while. Not that I was too boring to listen to, or the other party zoned out, but because there was no internet connection. I live in Sweden, so internet is almost ever a problem here, but you know The Gambia, so…
It is extremely hard for a country to develop when you can’t rely on either electricity or the internet. It is not only a national matter but very much an international matter. Building a business in The Gambia is hard, and running this business is even harder.
Many business owners live abroad, in countries where they can rely on both electricity supply and the internet. The frustration when either of these work, in The Gambia, is making a lot of people avoiding making business there.
A good internet connection in developing nations is not a luxury. Instead, it is essential for economic and social growth. It is also a solid instrument for supplying critical services such as education and health care.
People can’t wait for the authorities to follow the slow path of implementing traditional IT infrastructure, making wireless technologies like peer-to-peer cloud solutions a priority to overcome these difficulties in the shortest time possible.
The constant electricity cuts are first of all annoying, but they are damaging machinery and are making production processes impossible. Why invest millions of dalasis in building a factory, installing heavy machinery and training staff to run these machines when they break down because of an electricity cut? Is there a serious will, from our government, to develop The Gambia? It doesn’t seem like that as they take one step forward and two steps back. It is a political game played by greedy people who first of all make sure to fill their own pockets. The level of corruption hasn’t decreased since 2017, the money has only filled other pockets than before.
Extended power outages may impact the whole community and the economy. A power outage is when the electrical power goes out unexpectedly.
A power outage may:
disrupt communications, water and transportation.
Close retail businesses, grocery stores, gas stations, ATMs, banks and other services.
Cause food spoilage and water contamination.
Prevent use of medical devices.
How many of you haven’t been waiting for hours outside a bank? You needed to withdraw some money and no-one has any clue when or if the power comes back that day. This is highly unprofessional and not something that should occur in these modern times.
Those of you who are lucky enough to own a fridge and a freezer know that too many times the food inside these have been spoiled. It is important to avoid opening the fridge or freezer when you have no power, but for how long can you wait? People are hungry, and with time they get hangry. (That is when you are so hungry that you become angry = hangry ) People can’t afford to allow food go to waste, so they eat it anyway, hoping not to become sick. Considering the heat and the humidity in The Gambia, food poisoning is a serious thing and is easy to get.
It is not only in people’s homes fridges and freezers become damaged, grocery stores re-live this dilemma far too often. Groceries become spoiled, customers complain and a lot has to be thrown because it is spoilt. This is bad economy, but who cares? Not the ones who have the ability and the power to change the situation. Water becomes contaminated when it stands still in the water pipes. Bacteria grows in still standing water, people drink this and become ill. Who cares? New people are born every day and it is cheaper making new babies than fixing the water system anyway.
Hospitals depend on functioning power supply and internet. Doctors and nurses search for information online. Patient records are supposed to be stored online, normally more secure, but not in The Gambia. Too many times you can even find that the doctors don’t have paper for their prescriptions. The system in The Gambia is a bad joke, it is so bad that no-one has the energy to laugh at it. It is impossible to take the so called healthcare system in The Gambia seriously, as it is not run by serious people. The medication is not reliable, you never know if you get a cheap copy of the medicine you were supposed to take to cure your illness.
There are not enough supply for anything. Why do you even have a lot of hospitals when they are not properly equipped? This is serious, but who cares? Not those who have the power to change it. They can afford to go abroad for their own healthcare. Those of you who can’t ? What a pity, but new people are born every day. Making new babies is cheap! It must be extremely frustrating for doctors and nurses who realize that there is not much they can do to help their patients. Their hands are tied, they do what they are able to do and that’s it.
It must cause a huge amount of stress within every serious working doctor and nurse. They have the knowledge and they know how patients are cured in other countries, but they see their own people suffer and even die because of the lack of resources. Oh well, says some sleepy souls in the government; some survive and others die. It is the will of God. It is easy to blame God for your own incompetence, but it works in a country like The Gambia. Not many dare to question God’s will, but maybe you should do that more often.
God is a loving God who has given us a free will to do right or do wrong. If we do wrong, we can repent and God will forgive our wrong-doings. That’s great, isn’t it, but this is not supposed to be used as a wiping-out system. Your soul is not a black-board where you can erase what has been written upon it. Your sins are forever carved into your brain, and they will stay there to remind you not to repeat the same behaviour again. The word sin means to have got lost. You lost track on what you were supposed to do, how you were supposed to behave or act.
Anyone who has any kind of power is obliged to use it wisely. If you mis-use your power, it will come back to haunt you sooner or later. That is Karma, and Karma is a b***h. Connection problems can be solved, no matter the kind of connection. Never settle for less!
