Infrastructure

DECEMBER 21, 2009

Often time my life down here will be humming along and then something comes along that reminds me, “Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.” People in third world countries are often incredibly resourceful with things they repair, build and/or create. Frequently, laws, rules and regulations don’t exist for constructing things like the way we are used to back home in The States. I thought I would share some of these ‘creative’ infrastructure examples with you.

Here are some interesting electrical configurations - you see these ALL OVER HERE. I can only wonder what the electrical ‘code’ here is supposed to be…that is, of course, if there is one:

So many of the outlets I have seen are old and out-of-date. And most don’t really accommodate plugs very well; you might actually have to tape them in so that the plug doesn’t fall out! I saw this interesting group the other day:

And here is an extension cord I brought with me. Obviously the old electrical system fried it!

Many stores/families use their roofs as exterior storage areas like this example which I saw in Alotenango:

Here is my shower. Most showers here are electric. You can see how they’ve taped my wires down:

And here you can see how the path of the wires is kind of makeshift; on the left it goes out through my window: