Developing nations. Always a struggle.

One of the lessons you learn by living in a third world country is the importance of good infrastructure. Modern conveniences like air conditioning, cable TV and internet are nice. But choosing between those relatively modest technical advancements and good infrastructure, well, I’ll read a book and use a fan.


Roads and Transportation. I’ve discussed it several times on my blog. Traffic in Jakarta is bad. In Phoenix, most everyone lives in a neighborhood inside a one square mile block of streets. There is typically a grocery store either on one a corner of your neighborhood, or on the next one over. When you need groceries, you get in your car, drive for five minutes, get what you need, and come home. You’re probably gone no longer than twenty minutes. In Jakarta, just getting to the store, which is the same distance away, takes an hour.

Part of the problem is the number of vehicles on the roads – there are just too many. Most of the problem, however, can be directly attributed to the size of the roads, which are seldom more than one lane in each direction; the quality of the roads, because potholes the size of truck tires are common; and the lack of or poorly timed traffic signals. Rain only exacerbates the situation because of flooding. As main arteries flood (which are one lane in each direction), vehicles are diverted to other main arteries – further jamming them – or to even smaller roads and back alleys. On several occasions my driver has had to take a detour, and on one occasion he drove into the flood and stalled our vehicle.

Indonesia cannot join the industrialized world without first addressing their roads and rain water management issues.

Quality Water. We’ve never drunk water from our tap. We don’t use it for cooking, either – not even if we’re boiling it. I’m the only one in the family that will use it to brush my teeth. We used bottled water for anything that requires it to enter our body. I know some families that go so far as to use bottled water for bathing.

I’ve already experienced the intestinal issues that come from drinking third world water. I can safely drink the water – and eat the ice – in Mexico and Indonesia, thanks to my prior painful experiences with the bacteria. Locals don’t have a problem with it, either. But just because I can drink it, doesn’t mean I would. These pictures of water directly from our faucet after a rain storm a few months back illustrate why.

 

Consistent Power. Any city in the world that has power lines above the ground and receives inclement weather will experience the occasional power outage. Most people have flashlights or candles in their homes as a result. In Jakarta, we’ll get power outages for any reason at all. When we first arrived, we lost power three times in the first month, and there wasn’t a raincloud in sight any during any of the outages.

Tuesday morning, our day started with a power outage at 5 AM. Usually these outages last about thirty minutes and then their back. When we were without power for three hours, we called maintenance. They informed us we were the only ones in the complex without power. By the afternoon, they had finished restoring power to all of the air conditioning units (no central air, each room has its own unit) and most of the electrical outlets. By Wednesday noon, after drilling three holes in the cement walls and ceilings, they had restored all power and believe they have fixed the root cause – a leaking air conditioning unit that caused a short.

The power surge that occurred with the outage burned and destroyed a power converter, my wireless router, one baby monitor, and the charger for my phone. We have no internet at home yet. I can only get online at work and in the clubhouse in our complex.


Add reliable infrastructure the list of things we miss.