Dark Village

I read this article earlier this week. This village has the opportunity to get electricity, and while many people are for it, some aren't. I found this quite interesting:


(Beginning of excerpt)

Masawo, 28, used to work in the city but returned to the village when his parents died.

He talks of a special community spirit, which he fears may disappear forever.

"Without electricity, people get together after work; they share things with each other, tell stories. I think it's a better life.

"It's not necessary to have electricity. You can wash clothes by hand. With no TV, we have more time to chat and discuss together."

And even though the women spend much of the time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning by hand, mother-of-four Okoc is also reluctant to see change.

"I like things the way they are. Here we use oil lanterns, like in the old times. It seems better like that. If you had power, you wouldn't be able to see all the stars, and all the natural living things, like frogs and other animals, would run away."

...

Presbyterian church leader Rev Chang Ying-mei - who has been instrumental in helping the village think about how it wants to develop in the future - hopes the advent of electricity will bring only superficial changes.

"Power won't change their lives..." she began to say, "but who knows? People's desires are endless.

"I'm positive about the future because the village spirit is strong," she added.

(End of excerpt - you can read the rest of the article at the link above.)


While you might think that the older people would want the traditional ways and the younger ones would be calling for modernization, in fact the exact opposite is true. I wonder what will happen.

Meanwhile, this is a good reminder to me to savor the advantages of having no electricity from time to time!