It is difficult to capture the magnitude of Tuesday. We will try...
We each set out separately to attend to two miracles in the making, agreeing to meet back at Steve's office in town for a very important wrap-up building meeting with Gaudencia, Steve and Andrew. Dave left the guesthouse on foot at 7:15. His aim was to withdraw six million kwacha ($1500), the down payment for the final piece of the well project, in time for an 8:00 meeting with Mr. Chiluba. He hoped then to take Mr. Chiluba out to Kantolomba to show him the project while Mr. Chiluba's workers loaded their equipment in Kitwe and followed closely behind.
Mr. Chiluba was ten minutes early for his appointment, something nearly unheard of in Zambia. This guy means business. After a friendly greeting, Mr. Chiluba offered his car for the trip out to Kantolomba. Dave climbed in and off they went. On the way Dave took advantage of this opportunity to get to know our new friend a little. He appears to belong to a class of young entrepreneurs that we have seen emerging in Ndola, pleasantly combining ambition and western business sense (Mr. Chiluba worked for an international drilling company before branching out on his own) with the natural friendliness and good-humor of the Zambian people. Dave crossed his fingers secretly as they drove along.
When they arrived in Kantolomba, Dave showed Mr. Chiluba how we want our water system arranged: where the tank will be, how to hook into the electricity, and where we would like the spigot that will dispense the water to the people. We plan to set up only a simple system right now--just enough so that it can be used--then add to it when we next return. Once Mr. Chiluba understood, Dave introduced him to Theresa and Veronica as our onsite representatives, then the two men headed back to town.
Dave talking with Mr. Chiluba's technicians.
Scoping out the location for the water tank.
Meanwhile, back in town, far beyond our wildest dreams, the District Commissioner was able to get the ball rolling on our NGO filing. At the 11th hour it looks like we may actually have a shot at completing that process before we leave. This was so far out of the realm of what we hoped for that it was not even on our to-do list for this trip.
Jen reported to the Registration office as instructed at 8:30 AM sharp. Mr. Siwila, a very sweet gentleman, handed Jen the proper papers to fill out and assured her that if we could fill them out and get them back to him by the end of the day he could take care of the rest while we are away. Wow. Though daunted by the task of completing the necessary paperwork so quickly, we were thrilled to think that we might actually be successful with a process that has been hanging over our heads for nearly a year.
Jen then raced around town to finish our business errands, including visiting our friends at ZMart. One of our favorite things to do here is to deliver printed photographs to people. Largely because of the blog, we are diligent about snapping photos everywhere we go. People usually love to have their picture taken and ask if we will bring them a copy. It seems no one ever thinks we really will because when we do (and we always do) they are thrilled. We have a special relationship with several of the sales people at ZMart, a local household products store. It started when we brought a series of photos to Eli, the young man who helped us load a stove we bought for the Living Compassion house. He stood in shock flipping through the dozen photos we printed of him picking up and loading the stove. Now the employees all know that we will indeed bring the photos and start smiling and teasing when they see us coming. It's great fun! We feel sure it is one of the best practices of peace there is. A recent peace quote reads something along the lines of: "The greatest gift you can give someone is your full attention." Honoring someone with a photo of themselves, and more specifically, taking the time to print it and return to find them to give it to them, feels like just that--an honoring of someone's importance.
The women admiring their photos.
And the guys.
Eli wanted to pose this time with the big ticket items.
Meanwhile, we (Jen, Dave, Gaudencia and Steve) were all in back-and-forth cell phone conversation about our morning meeting. Steve had been called to a last-minute government meeting and postponed our meeting until later. Jen took advantage of the delay and went to the internet cafe to print the documents for Regina's bank account and begin preparing the NGO papers.
Just after Dave called to say he was ready to come back from Kantolomba, Steve phoned to report that his government meeting was cancelled, and we were back on for our building meeting. We all dropped what we were doing and hurried to Steve's office. Just like anywhere, it is tricky in Zambia to get everyone in the right place at the right time.
The building meeting went well. Together we went through all the aspects of the project--logistical, technical, and financial--to make sure we all were in agreement and that we all understand our different responsibilities as we go forward. Working on a project of this size and complexity would be a challenge under any circumstances. We have the added difficulty of the twenty thousand miles that lie between us when we are away and the communication hurdles this entails. We had hoped to come out of this meeting with a clear direction for the next three months, until our next possible opportunity to return to Zambia. To our great delight, it was clear as we left the two-hour meeting that everyone felt we had very much succeeded. Now we can look forward to the pleasure of watching our building grow from a distance, with the help of the photos that Theresa will send our way as she is able.
As we drove away from Steve's office, the phone rang. It was Mr. Chiluba. He had run into a difficulty, he said. The expense of using cell phones in Zambia does not allow for lengthy conversation, so we quickly arranged to meet Mr. Chiluba beside the road on the way to town. He was smiling as usual, but his news was not good. "There is no fuel in Kitwe," he said. "The truck is loaded, but we cannot get it to the site."
For a few minutes we puzzled over this not completely unexpected development. There will always be some sort of difficulty: this is the only thing, we have learned, that one can expect for certain in Zambia (and in California, too, for that matter). You just never know what it will be. Poor Mr. Chiluba! He had done everything in his power to keep his promise that the project would be finished on Tuesday, but he was stuck. He could not even buy fuel in Ndola and carry it to Kitwe because there was none in Ndola, either--not a drop. Mr. Chiluba commented that he himself would be required to stay in Ndola if no fuel showed up because he didn't have enough in his own vehicle to get home.
Up until this point in our trip, the fuel shortage was for us not much more than an interesting phenomenon. Now we were in the position to experience the frustration we witnessed all around us. This is life in Africa. There was nothing we could do except shrug and hope for the best, so this is what we did, and went on to our other business.
We decided to return to the guesthouse for a quick lunch before meeting with the Permanent Secretary at 3:00PM. This meeting also went very well, and we were reminded how nice it is to have Jennifer in our corner. We talked with her about having a press conference with Evaristo when we are back in January. We all agreed it would be a great way to support Evaristo as well as bring positive attention to Kantolomba, to Ndola, and to the projects of Living Compassion.
After the meeting we went to turn in our NGO papers. We had managed to fill out the papers in bits and spurts between things, but it turned out there was one piece needed that we had not realized. We agreed we would complete it overnight and bring it to Mr. Siwila's office at 8 hours sharp the next day.
(Our apologies for the lack of photos... As you might be able to tell, our focus of attention at this point was not on the camera.)
Late in the afternoon we received a call from Jonathan, Mr. Chiluba's business partner. He told us that they had located a diesel vehicle they could use to transport their equipment to Kantolomba (it is only gasoline that is in short supply right now). They would have it by the end of the day, he said, and could load it first thing in the morning. Then he told us that he had gas in his own vehicle and was on his way to Kantolomba. We raced out to meet him.
Jonathan arrived with two of his technicians. They had brought with them the well pump, a coil of pipe, and some other things they would need. As usual, the Living Compassion women jumped up to help unload and carry the things into the building. They are a hard-working bunch, those gals.
The Living Compassion women helping unload the well parts.
Dave and Jen showed the drillers around, and then together they made a plan for the morrow. It was too late in the day, alas, for them to begin work. We were not too terribly disappointed: over the course of the day we had realized that we have no choice but to leave Zambia and hope the drillers do their job without our direct supervision. Luckily, we have great people remaining behind to watch over things. We will just need to explain to Theresa and Veronica what Mr. Chiluba and Jonathan have agreed to do, then we can let go and leave the project in their capable hands.
Dave showing where the pump will be hooked to electricity.
"Our plane leaves at noon," we told Jonathan. "We will come to Kantolomba in the morning, but we will need to leave here at ten hours sharp. We would like to see as much of the work as possible before we go. When can you begin?"
Jonathan promised that his technicians would arrive by eight, and that he would follow closely behind in the truck with the equipment. This was agreeable to us, so we shook hands on it and the drillers headed home to Kitwe to prepare.
Before we departed, we picked up the products the Living Compassion women have been working on. Josephine and her crew are knitting machines and have turned out another couple of dozen adorable hats and booties. Georgina has also been hard at work and has made many beautiful, colorful chitenge bags; this current batch are tote bags in two sizes.
A handmade Living Compassion tote bag.
On the way home from Kantolomba, we arranged to meet Friday to discuss the possibility of employing him to help with transport for the food program. Two Saturdays a month Theresa and a gang of women from Kantolomba head to the market to buy food for the children. It's a lot of work: the amount of mealy-meal alone required to feed 250 children every day is staggering. They need someone with a reliable vehicle to help. Enter Friday. Since July he has managed to acquire a van and to start a side business hiring it out for the day. What a perfect fit!
Friday met us at the guesthouse. It was the work of just a few moments to negotiate a price, and to hire him to be our driver. He will start this next Saturday.
We managed to put together a simple but hardy dinner of baked potatoes, providing us with just enough calories to fuel a second wind for packing. We need to be ready to leave at 7:45AM as we have our NGO papers and Kantolomba business to attend to before getting to the airport at 10:00AM. Cheri teases us that coming home to a full work schedule at the Monastery will feel like a vacation. It is so true. We are never busier than when we are here in Zambia. And we love it!