Jen is running to keep up with all our trip responsibilities including keeping all of you up-to-speed. We apologize for less detail than usual in the blog.
Getting the sewing room out at the property secure was our big project for the day. The plan was that Friday was going to have everything all set (quotations for materials, materials bought and ready, etc.) by late last week. Monday morning comes and he is still in Kabwe, a nearby city, having done no work at all on our project. Turns out we had a mechanical job out there last Wednesday, but the job was more complex than he anticipated (it always is!), and when he finally finished the man he was working for announced that he did not have the cash and Friday would have to spend one more night in order to go to the bank with the man in the morning. Needless to say we are feeling doubtful the security project will be set by the time Jen and Theresa leave on Thursday.
Jen took advantage of the time waiting for Friday to get all the in-town business taken care of. We will spare you the details, as we feel sure you get the point, but once again it was a lesson in things will always take at least 3 times as long as you plan for.
In town we passed by our old stomping grounds, the Savoy Hotel, where we used to pirate an internet connection years ago.
Once Friday arrived we went out to Kantolomba together to make a game plan. Although we are trying to accomplish something that would seem fairly simple--create a home for the sewing machines such that they will not be stolen at night--you would think we were planning to open a bank. Theresa and everyone else we have consulted have insisted that the security must include 16mm (anything smaller can be bent) bars on all the doors and windows as well as padlocks on all doors, and then the machines must be padlocked to the tables! It's looking like securing the machines is going to cost far more than the machines themselves. A good reminder that meeting everyone's needs globally will surely prove more efficient (even setting aside justice) than securing great wealth for some.
Friday molding the door frames as his friend Maude looked on.
Jen photographed some of the team holding new solar flashlights we brought along to be prizes for the student-of-the-month contests.
We know we have shown it to you before, but we continue to be impressed by the tiling in the bathrooms. We think the shower looks like a four-star hotel.
Gibson and Friday consult.
On the way back into town I asked for a special stop at the Obama Complex. President Obama's presidency is a huge deal all over Africa. Even some streets have already been renamed in his honor.
Obama Complex shopping center.