Dave spent Friday on his own, doing tasks around the flat and running various errands in town. It takes an enormous amount of effort here just to take care of ourselves--to find food and cook it, to move from place to place, to hand-wash clothes, and other things. After taking time for the household chores, Dave set out to town with two main tasks before him: to talk with our friends at the Department of Water Affairs (the folks who dug our well for us in April) about the best way of procuring a pump for our well, and to talk with a lawyer about some legal difficulties we are experiencing around getting our Non-Government Organization status officially secured.
First Dave walked down to the water affairs department, where, much to his delight, he found Mr. Chaila and Newton. We last saw them in our euphoria right after we had struck water in Kantoloma. It was fun to see them again and get re-acquainted.
For several minutes we discussed the well and the type of pump we would need. Originally we had talked about getting a PlayPump--a pump powered by a merry-go-round and the children playing on it. This proved to be impossible, however, for logistical reasons. Our next idea was to install a solar-powered pumping system much like the one we have at the Monastery. Both Mr. Chaila and Newton agreed that this would be a real possibility. Mr. Chaila has solar power at his farm. The first step, however, would be to test the capacity of the well so we could make a good decision about what pump to buy.
The one place Mr. Chaila and Newton disagreed was on the question of what type of pipe to use. Generally they use a flexible plastic pipe, but Newton advocated for using metal, for the simple reason that it would be heavier and harder to steal. Because of the poverty of the area, he said, there would be a danger of people attempting to pull our pump out by the pipe and making off with it. The alternative would be to use the plastic pipe and fabricate some sort of metal grate to make the pump inaccessible.
After saying good-bye Dave walked across town to meet with the lawyer, Mrs. Kunda. She welcomed Dave graciously and ushered him into her office with a big smile. Quickly they got down to business.
For some time we have been interested in buying a house in town to serve as the Living Compassion headquarters in Ndola. In order to buy the house, Living Compassion needs to be officially registered as a non-government organization in Zambia. We filed our NGO papers when we were here in January, but have not yet received confirmation from the Zambian government. For several minutes Dave and Mrs. Kunda discussed the situation. It is possible that she could help us clear up the situation, she said, but it would take some work. She gave Dave a number of legal points to consider, and then sent him off with another big smile.
Dave's last task of the day was to set up the satellite modem and communicate with the team back home. He chose a nearby soccer field to use as home base. A group of boys was playing there with a homemade ball when he arrived. As he set up the modem, they came cautiously around, curious, they said, what this white man was doing. They watched as he typed and the modem flashed green and red lights in the deepening twilight. After sending and receiving email he attempted to test the satellite phone. There is a chance we will need it to do the weekly radio show from here, as there are but few land lines in the city. After some delay, as he worked out the bugs, he was forced by the approaching darkness, much to his frustration, to give up and return to the flat.
Dave satellite modem.
Theresa takes a turn.
Later, as Jen and Dave talked it over during dinner, it occurred to them to wonder about the roof of the apartment building as a satellite base. The satellite modem requires an unobstructed view of the sky to the northeast. They had assumed they must go to some open space like the soccer field to use it. What if it were possible to use it right there on the roof of the building? When the meal was finished they went exploring, and, sure enough, on top of the building is a wide, flat roof with a chest-high wall all around, and a clear view of the sky overhead. Elated, the two monks rushed down to the flat, retrieved the modem, set up the satellite phone and called Cheri in California. "We're on the roof!" they said. We have since learned that we can set up the modem on the roof and have a wireless connection to our computers below in our own flat. It's like having our own internet cafe, right here in our own living room.
After a short celebration and dishes, it was time to get some rest for another day.