I refreshed my Facebook page over and over again, hoping it would work last Tuesday night. There was no internet, and my phone was unable to make any calls. I realised later that there was an internet blackout across Addis Abeba. It also occurred to me that I rely more on the online community for information than any other resource.

On that night, I had work piling up from people who would happily replace me with someone with a better internet connection. My aim is for them to never find out how bad it gets in Ethiopia.

In their defence, why should they care about some random African country and its problems when their interest is in their key performance indicators (KPIs)?

The struggle does not end there. As I try to get my business running, I know that most of my frustrations are not just about getting my project off the ground but the expenses that are related to the many things I have no control over. These problems are not mine to solve but should be the concern of the elected officials. Admittedly, it is easy to criticise a job that is not in my hands, but some problems have easy solutions.

It is not just our jobs that they are disrupting. It is also our sense of security. On the day the internet was off, I kept refreshing my Facebook page, craving news. I believed that the disconnection of phone and mobile internet networks was surely not a coincidence. I switched to a broadband connection. Alas, nothing but speculation from other, equally confused people. Like me, they had gathered near a broadband connection hoping to hear news or call their loved ones.

My head was swarmed with thoughts of the worst happening. Fortunately, during these times, living in a condominium gives me comfort. Listening to the non-stop noises indicates a reassuring level of normalcy.

“We are now live,” screams a member of the diaspora. He has an online campaign on Facebook, while the rest of us barely have an internet connection. He is working on a project that I would normally describe as forward-thinking, but now the bold display of hope he exhibits irks me. I am realising how my own naivete has led me to bleed my time, passions and dreams in a country that is my home.

It is imperative we view our time on this earth as a collective success or failure, especially in a country like Ethiopia. Even efforts made in the way of aiding the local government are punishable. We recently took the initiative to clean and partially reconstruct the sidewalk in front of the space we had rented for our business. Before long, it was being dumped on by our neighbours who were undertaking construction.