Interesting day yesterday. There is another school just upn the road from Hope Village School, Eagle's Wings. They're sponsored by a large Baptist congregation in Australia. Been going since 1999. Theirs is the secondary school that the children from Hope go to after grade 7. Quite a complex.
Had an interesting dialogue with the son of the founder at EW. We spoke of the common challenges that the organizations face here in Zambia -- decreasing funding from foreign sponsors, lack of collaboration between organizations here. My suggestion was why not form the Council of Non-profit Agencies in Zambia. Get all the directors together and talk about their common problems and brainstorm as to how they might collaborate without giving up their individual identities. Maybe that thought will take hold and they will at least begin to dialogue amonst themselves. One can hope.
We had a meeting with the Hope Village staff and teachers to discuss "Time". I've been told that the mindset here is that if there is a meeting scheduled, time set for the meeting, the local thought is that if I get there today it's fine. We talked about the value of time. Time as an asset that needs to be valued. How timeliness is important, and why it is important. Talked about respecting time and how timeliness is a sign of respect, and being late is a sign of disrespect, and often interpreted by the person who is waiting as arrogance.
Went pot shopping for the village kitchen. Next to the soccer stadium is a Chinese-built mall. Well, mall by our standards is overstated. All the sales people are Zambian. There are a couple Chinese who sit and watch, but ask them a question and they have no answers. Don't speak Bemba or English. I guess they're just there to keep an eye on things. Everything in the shops is direct from China.
Went to comparison shop at Z Mart, another store selling not only restaurant supplies, but sewing machines (treadle--looks like a turn of the century Singer machine with a new coat of paint and Made in China label on it -- pretty paint job!), beauty parlor hair dryers, boomboxes refrigerators -- a cross between Walmart, BestBuy and Restaurant Depot. (Interesting sidenote: that store is run by a Gujerati family, multi-generational Zambian.)
We bought a 60 qt brazier with lid for 995KWA - comparable price with US price of $98, this morning and delivered it to the kitchen where the water was already heating for the daily nshima preparation. No more spilling over the sides of the pot onto the floor. Reckon that the pot will pay for itself in less than a year from the lack of spillage.
Along with the nshima there is a healthy green vegetable -- pumpkin leaves! Actually very tasty, a bit like kale. I'd be happy for a bit of lemon juice in it, but that's a personal thing with me that I like some sour with the greens. Actually it's a mix of cabbage and pumpkin leaves.
Today we visit some homes in the Village of Twapia where the children come from at the school. This should prove enlightening and I'll report this evening on those visits. This afternoon we have another session with staff and teachers at 2:30. It is myn hope that they will loosen up even more and participate in the discussion. I feel that this is foreign to them to be asked for their input in anything, especially anything having to do with strategy.
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