Hustling

Everyday I’m hustling (Feel free to sing along while reading this post) The construction is progressing at a good pace, but it has been a constant struggle to get all the supplies here without a reliable source of transportation. We have had 3 different commercial farmers agree to loan their tractors when not being used on the farm. This means we sometimes get a phone call that a tractor is available and then we have to hustle to arrange for it to go pick up sand, gravel, stones, or bricks (whichever one is most in need at that particular moment.) Currently, we are good on sand, gravel, and stones, but running low on bricks and will need to make some more trips to the kiln as soon as another tractor becomes available. Without the help of these overly kind commercial farmers, we would pay most of the money we raised to hire trucks, which are primarily based in Mkushi to come out and move construction supplies for us. There are currently only 2 canter trucks in the Chalata area: one belongs to an individual who knows we are in a bind and is trying to take advantage of us financially, but we are trying our best to divert as little money as possible to transportation so we save more for the construction project; the other belongs to the school. We asked permission to borrow the school vehicle for one day and agreed to pay for fuel so it would cost the school nothing, but they declined. It was very frustrating to be turned down by the school headmaster after everything we’ve done over the years to help so many students at the school. Unfortunately, many of the teachers here are just working for their paycheck and do not really care about the students. Still there are some incredible teachers who want to see these students succeed and they are more than happy to help our project as much as possible. Even in the community we find the same 2 different types of people. Some are just trying to take advantage of the muzungu (white people) that they assume are rich, while others recognize that our work is for the benefit of their community and they are happy to help where they can. Our brick maker has proven to be of the second type. He gave us a fair price on the bricks and after that he visited our site to learn more about it and realized how much we struggle to get water. Water has been the biggest struggle throughout this construction process. Our landlord originally said we could use the pump at our house to fill the four 50 gallon plastic drums we have and he transport them to the site daily for free. Of course this sounded like an excellent plan until is vehicle broke 3 days after we began construction and has been in the shop ever since. The next plan was simply to use wheelbarrows to bring buckets full of water up the 250 meter hill to our site and refill the drums that way. If Ackson, Aaron, and myself work together we can manage, but the work is exhausting. After seeing this, our brick maker said the current plan of trekking to the river was not very good and that instead he could loan us his spare water pump as long as we could afford the diesel to run it. Diesel isn’t cheap here, but it is well worth buying a few liters to run the pump and save ourselves some of the work. The only issue with this system is that we have to borrow hoses from another generous man, but he only has about 200 meters of hoses. So we are able to pump the water near our site, fill the four drums and then we still have to roll the drums up the hill the remaining 50-60 meters so the construction can proceed at a good pace. Our builders are doing a good job so far and working very hard, but we continue to struggle and hustle to get them all the supplies they need in order to continue work. It seems like for the most part we are right on pace with them and never even a step ahead. Today we are ordering the remainder of the supplies from Mkushi, primarily roofing materials which we hope to have delivered by next week. So many days, I fondly look back on home improvement projects with my parents and reflect on how much easier this would be if we had a home depot down the street and a pick up to drive. Nobody said this work would be easy, but we are proving that it is possible with all the generous support from American donors, local commercial farmers, and the few kind villagers who have offered the little they have to see this work succeed. Knowing how much support we have gives me the energy to keep hustling and finish this construction. P.S. The photo shows our 50 gallon drums where we have to fill them (as far as the hose will reach) and in the background just behind the tractor is where we have to roll the drums to in order for the construction workers to continue mixing cement and building.

Building has begun

The past week has been full of successes for IIM International. We received our official certificate for NGO status and both Aaron and myself have submitted all the forms for resident permits (which should be issued within a few weeks.) In addition, we have organized several local builders to begin construction and they have already finished digging the foundations. The builders are eager to finish the rest of the work and have agreed to complete everything for the 2 dorm buildings within a month. Now the only slight hold up has been getting the remainder of the supplies to the site. The bricks have been finished but are waiting for pick up just 3 kilometers away. While this isn't far, it has been a challenge since we do not have a vehicle (we dream of someday owning a 4 door pick up, but in the mean time we make due.) Today a very generous commercial farmer near by sent his tractor for us to use in hauling the bricks to our site so we are very thankful for this assistance. As Aaron began loading the bricks I headed back to Mkushi to meet the truck that is supposed to be loaded with all of our cement, timber, door frames, window frames, and other supplies to be transported to the site. Unfortunately, despite having phones to ensure that everything was set for the delivery, I arrived in town to find that there is no cement. We have already been delayed one day as the delivery was supposed to be made yesterday. However, the cement is stuck about an hour away. There are many people in town today waiting for the cement truck to arrive as we have all already purchased the cement and arrived in town to pick it as we were told to. It is a bit frustrating, but they delivery company is being helpful and I'm told the truck has just left and should be here in about an hour so I'm just hoping everything works out ok as far as this delivery is concerned. On that note, I will give a quick personal anecdote about the good days and the bad days. Yesterday when we arrived in Mkushi we had some shopping to do for our own personal supplies. We walked all over town looking for things and could not find them anywhere. We would be sent from one shop to another on a wild goose chase before finally giving up on those supplies and hoping to find them another day. Today when I arrived in town I ran a few errands and then sat down for a biscuit and coke which was my breakfast/lunch. Within 10 minutes of sitting down guys walked by hawking the same goods we spent all of yesterday looking for. So, I am reminded yet again that patience is the most important because eventually things will come together. I just need to try not to get frustrated on those less productive days and remember that other days will come in which everything seems to go exactly my way. I will post photos on the facebook page of our construction progress so please check it out!