If ignorance were bliss, that reporter / author would be the happiest guy in town.
Full of misplaced sympathy and faulty logic (probably born of ignorance), the article completely glosses over a few basic facts.
First, Kenya is hardly unique. Not so long ago there was a similar thing floating around about India. When the Berlin Wall came down, we had these stories out of eastern Europe. I'll bet China and Latin America have similar stories.
I could examine the technical aspects, but I would be off target. Rather, the root of this problem is the same that inspires Cable TV theft: this frenzy to get something you don't need without paying for it. If these folks were happily living without electricity a few years ago, they can live without it today. The mentality of desperation is illogical; just how critical is that I-pod?
"Free," or "cheap" has its' price. Someone, somewhere has to pay for proper distribution equipment, training of the tradesmen, tools and PPE. Instead, these folks have institutionalized hackwork and hired Murphy as the foreman.
Hanging laundry from the lines .... makes about as much sense as sticking your finger in a socket. Current mentality would re-design the lines to take the weight; the real solution is for folks to stop doing foolish things. Nothing like a little immediate pain to define a 'teaching moment.'
Mud huts and tin roofs? Sort of makes me shudder when I think of the plumbing.
On a positive note ... when was the last time you had to interrupt your dinner for a service call? We do such a fine job, our stuff is so reliable, that most folks have no idea of what's involved; the powere is just assumed to 'ne there!'
